Livia’s “I’ve Never Done NaNo Before” Question #5: Should I write out of order?

What if you get an idea for a scene in your story that you’ve gotten to yet (maybe you’re on day 3, and you have an idea for a scene that’s close to the end). Do you skip ahead and write it? Or is that a bad idea because then you sort of do have to do some editing to fit in into the narrative once you get there again later?


  1. roseofbattles reblogged this from yeahwriters
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  3. coral542383 answered: write that scene, and if you still want it towards the end, you can find a way to fit it.
  4. caerul answered: Go for it! Write out of order before you lose the idea! You’re aiming for wordcount in Nano, not narrative finesse. :)
  5. emtardis answered: Write it! Write it now! Otherwise the spark will die! Worst case: You never use it…but it reminds you how clever you are.
  6. eleven-pm answered: GO AHEAD! Write out of order
  7. grantisanerd answered: Outline it, get the important parts of the scene, but come back to it when you get there in the story.
  8. a-little-harmed-shinra answered: I just write out whatever I think of for the story. It’s going to the word count and I can edit it later in December.
  9. lost-before-the-dawn answered: Anything to get the words out. You can always add later.
  10. clubfang answered: Rule 1 of NaNo: JUST WRITE. Figure out where it all goes later. JUST WRITE.
  11. feliciadelaawesome answered: If you write a scene ahead it’s like a landmark. But everything leading up to it has to reach that point even if it’ll need work in december
  12. knitewriter answered: In general, I would say no (although some people write out of order on principle); however, NaNo is THE place to bend writing rules. I would.
  13. nikolagriffin answered: Since you’re going for word count I’d go for writing it, also so you don’t forget the scene later. Latter’s happened to me before!
  14. triceratopper answered: It’s up to you. I did this and it worked very well for me because it gave me a direction. Know you’ll have to edit post-NaNo no matter what.
  15. wordsarethebonesofmylovers answered: imho, if you get an idea for a later scene, write it while you’ve got it. You’re gonna have to edit around the edges later anyway.
  16. mrgid answered: I found, even as a “pantser”, writing out of order made it too hard to write consistently. Righting linearly guaranteed I’d write enough.
  17. flustered-darcy answered: I think you should write down a few sentences, enough to remember the subject, but don’t distract yourself from the main story.
  18. pwrpunch answered: I’ve never done NaNoWriMo before but that’s how I always write my novels. Down with chronological order! Don’t let it confine you!
  19. theticklishpear answered: Write what has a hold of your imagination atm. You may have to rewrite it when you get to it to fit the emotions, but that’s not a big deal.
  20. battlegroundbetty answered: I generally try to write the story in order b/c if I only wrote the scenes I liked first I would get too bored w/ the other ones to finish.
  21. cyanideinyourshirleytemple answered: Do whatever works for you. Remember that the main objective of NaNo is just getting the words down.
  22. electricjuicebox answered: I’ve always written whatever comes to mind - it’s the word count you’re looking for, right?
  23. catastrophicartists answered: I’m working on a fan comic that relies heavily on chats, so if you know what you need, get ‘em out of the way! Don’t worry about editing.
  24. happy-apathy answered: You do whatever works for you. If skipping ahead is going to get you to 50000 words, do it.
  25. seeingviolet answered: I’d write it while I’m inspired to do so, and worry about the editing process later.
  26. alinta answered: I just write the important speech or bit or whatever down then write forward to it
  27. youvebeenkated answered: I always write out of order. I’ve lost too many NaNos bc I insisted on trying to be unstuck when I could have just written another scene!
  28. animakitty answered: Write it down. Doesn’t matter if it ends up in the final piece, but don’t make the mistake of letting that idea-fish slip your memory-net.
  29. weknewhowthiswouldend answered: Write the scene down and insert it later. If you find it doesn’t fit when you’ve finished, then tweak some things.
  30. madlyidle answered: Everyone approaches NaNo a little differently. The only absolute common rule is reaching 50k. The rest is up to you.
  31. tenmilesfromhome answered: I would say go ahead and write it as long as you are able to make it all smooth at the end so it flows naturally its fine ^_^
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