Time lines can be very tricky, and I’m always having to go back over previous chapters of stories to sort out how many days have passed, or sometimes months and years, to keep it all straight. Some authors actually create a timeline before they start, so that they don’t lose track of who was what age where, and so on. Same with the story itself, some authors swear by writing the synopsis first, to give the story an outline and structure, then they fill in the blanks, so to speak. Others, like me, start off with a vague premise, just a broad idea of how to start the story, or how to open a chapter and the story writes itself from there on. My current story is a case in point. I had a choice after posting chapter 10 – I could wrap it up in the next chapter and finish the story (nnnnoooooo!!)or else take the characters off at a tangent and see where it led me, thereby extending the story (much to my fan’s relief *LOL*)…
Whether you write by planning and plotting the characters and storyline first, or write by the seat of your pants, not knowing where the story is going or how it will end, it should never be a chore or an uncomfortable experience. When I write, I find that time just disappears and I can be a couple of hours at the keyboard and simply not realise that time is passing. If writing becomes a hardship, then don’t do it…but, if you enjoy writing, and have a story just begging to be told, then get it down and hang what anyone thinks of it.
I always tell anyone who asks, never write a story because you want other people to like it. Write a story because it’s something you want to read – if you do that, you might be surprised to find that other people will like it too, as happened in my case.
Write if it makes you happy.
So which suits you? Seat-of-the-pants, plotting or something else?
you are so right with what you say Louise