Christian Speculative Fiction discussion

To continue our writing theme for this month, how do you go about writing your stories? Do you start at the beginning of your book and work to the end or jump around writing the scenes that interest you and then connecting them later?

I write from beginning to end, and I edit beginning to end as well. I have met jumpers, but I am curious how many do that in our group.

Definitely beginning to end—though in editing I may need to jump, like when I realise I haven't given enough space to a particular character. But I don't like doing that 'cos I often find on reading through later that I wrote the new scene(s) without full awareness of the surrounding context. So final editing always has to be beginning to end.

Mostly beginning to end but usually when I get around the half-way mark, I begin to see where it's all leading. At that point I write a tentative worksheet of the ending.

Normally I work beginning to end but sometimes a scene just hits me and I have to stop long enough to get it down. After I get it done, I go back to where I left off.

As of yet unpublished, and actually not having completed a novel, my two cents are probably worth less than that here.

I have certain scenes in mind. I write those. They show me where other information is necessary, which leads to more scenes. How to introduce new minor characters? Who best to reveal information about minor characters or plot twists? These are scenes that often need to be developed - many of which I cannot see from the beginning or that I decide to change as the story comes together.

So, more of a jumper here.

Just trivia, famous writers fall on either side:

Brandon Sanderson and Tom Wolfe are jumpers. They write the big scene first.

Agatha Christy writes beginning to end at least twice, first time to find out who did the crime and the second time to add the clues.

Definitely beginning to end. There were a few cases when I had a scene in mind, how it was going to play out, but by the time I got to it, it turned out to be completely different. Looking back, if I had written it the way I originally envisioned it wouldn't have been near as good and I would have been trying to force my story into a scene that no longer applied.

Beginning to end...no doubt. As a pantser I couldn't do it any other way since I don't necessarily know where my story is going. I have to write it as it plays out. I'll often go back and fill in later. But I first write the story out. Hmmm... Now that I think of it. My first draft is essentially a glorified outline... Perhaps I'm not quite the pantser I think I am.