Manuscript Out of Order

There’s no rule that scenes must be written chronologically. There are cases, though, where that’s what works best. Scenes that link tightly, places with fast pacing, or sections of the outline that leave things a little too vague (yup, that even happens here in the writing cave sometimes).

Our current chronology constraint has to do with the emotional tenor of the material. To know how the characters should treat each other in Scene D, we must first write Scene C, which is dependent on Scene B, and ultimately Scene A. None of which is an issue for a solo author; the scenes all have to get written at some point. But when two people are coordinating their efforts, it becomes a problem.

This longish series of interdependent scenes impacted our workflow by interfering with our usual habit of divvying up the work so Kent and Jen both have scenes to write. Those four scenes became a one-lane bridge, because the work in the queue had to be assigned to one person.

By happenstance, the scenes in question were assigned to Kent. (Actually, they were assigned that way by Jen, but there was nothing malicious about it.) This somewhat aggravated our workflow dilemma because he is the less-speedy member of the writing team. It started to seem like Jen might be stranded on her side of the river for quite some time.

Fortunately, Jen is resourceful. While Kent wrote all those scenes, she flitted throughout the first draft to take care of things we had in our notes. Punching up theme, keeping the continuity in line, honing the characters’ voices. Now we have that much less to worry about when it’s time for a second draft. And Kent has passed the baton; now it’s Jen’s turn to write the next scene, if she can remember how.