Do authors have to always write chronologically to complete a novel?
The answer is no. When an author is first writing a book, they usually don’t have all of it figured out, and it will most likely change a great deal from when the first words are put onto the page until the story is completed.
One of the most challenging tasks for most authors is calling the book done. Then once it is done, it goes to the editor, and during the editing process, there will be many more changes, mostly small, to the manuscript.
Often when I’m writing my books, I’ll think up multiple scene ideas that come later in the novel. I may come up with a new ending for the book and feel the need to get it all down on paper, or in my case, onto the laptop, while I have, it thought out in my head. As you write, it sparks your creativity, and you will often dream up other scenes that take place later in the story.
Other times I’ll think up new scenes for either of the two books I’m currently writing and then carry them around in my head for days or weeks. I’m writing book 2 in the Darian Locke series and re-writing the Crystal Thomas thriller called Flight. For years I’d stuck to writing just one book at a time, but then I was re-reading Stephen King’s book On Writing and saw that he works on multiple books and or stories at once. So, I started doing this and found that as I write I sometimes get stuck about where the book goes next. During this time I’ll simply jump over to the other book and work on that one.
Much of writing is a subconscious effort. When you stop writing by using your conscious mind, your subconscious mind continues working on the book. Then at some point, the author is on a hike or in the shower, and those scenes will pop into their conscious mind.
Over the years, as you continue to write every day or at least most days of the week, you’ll become acquainted with how your mind works when crafting a story, and pushing through writer’s block, or just getting to a point where you’re not sure what comes next in a story.
This morning I sat down to write further on the Darian Locke book # 2 (Still Untitled) and couldn’t get into it. So, I pulled up the new version of Flight, and instead of starting where I left off a few days ago on chapter 14, I started a new document with Chapter # at the top of the page and wrote out one of the scenes I’ve been thinking about lately. It takes place in the last third of the story.
Then I put Chapter # below that scene, and I wrote headings of what I’ll write later for a couple of supporting scenes in the end of the book.
The key is to make headway on the novel anyway you can. Sometimes you’ll sit down as an author and write non-stop for 5 hours, but many other times it will be challenging to start writing. I used to read over what I wrote last, and many times this would be all it took to spark my creative juices and get me excited about what comes next.
I have many author friends that I interact with via social media and email. Some are best-selling authors, a few are beginners, and several are mid-grade authors building their writing careers like I am. All of them have expressed how the Covid-19 Pandemic has challenged their writing careers since March of 2020. We’ve also discussed our impressions and opinions of what readers want to read.
The good news is that with the vaccines, most of us have gotten our old lives back for the most part.