Although reading is linear, writing often isn’t, at least for me. I started writing part 4 of Worst Date Ever at the middle, a very crucial point in the story. I just happened that the middle part of the story was flowing out of me. I wrote it all the way to the end, and I’m now working on the beginning. After that, I’ll have to give the story a through looking-over; sometimes a story that’s written out-of-order feels kind of jerky. It should be up by this evening.
I remember reading in Marshall McLuhan’s book Counterblast that typing changed writing: the speed with which one could commit words to paper increased, and writing styles became more fluid and conversational. I wonder how computers, with features like saving, cut-and-paste and outlining, have changed writing.
Any of you out there who write, either fiction or non-fiction:
- Do you write in a generally beginning-to-end fashion, or work on certain parts first?
- If you use a computer, do you keep a single master copy of what you’re working on, or do you store revisions individually?
- Do you sometimes write using one tool and transfer it to another, say from a notepad or sticky note to your writing book or computer? (Some of my blog entries, even lengthy ones, started their lives as notepad entries on my PalmPilot.)