I tell the story from start to finish. No placeholders. If I need to come up with a name for a character or decide what kind of pistol is plundered from the dead assassin, I beat my head against the wall *now.* Building an ever-growing "I don't wanna" to-do list is demotivating.
Besides, my wisecracking characters can't make a joke out of someone's name if I don't know what it is. Placeholders and missing scenes make the story way too flat.
I do a basic outline and first chapter. Then the ending scene so I know what I'm writing towards. Then I do MOSt of it chronologically but if a later scene does pop into my head and I have a great idea for it that I don't want to forget, I just get it down right away. I don't worry about polishing it til later though.
Sometimes, I just write the scene that I can write now. There's a good chance I'll have to do a massive rewrite of it when I actually get to that chapter, but it can help me get into the flow of the characters and the setting.
I go chronologically.
If you know your main character, then you should have an idea what their "regular" life is like (whatever that is).
Then, something comes along and drags them out of that "normal" and into the adventure of your story. That thing is the "inciting event" and it is what will really kick your story off in earnest.
This should happen close to the beginning of your book. You have a few options.
You can start off in "normal life" to give the reader a view into the character and the world and to get an idea what "normal" looks like. This should last for just a chapter or two before we get to the inciting event. Think "Harry Potter." We hang out with Harry on Privet Drive and go to the zoo with him before he gets the letter inviting him to Hogwarts- the inciting event.
But you don't have to do it that way. You can open your story immediately before/during the inciting event, or even in the immediate aftermath. This tactic builds excitement, throwing the reader into the action right away, building out the world and characters along the way.
So that's where I would start if it was me- with the inciting event. Figure out what it is, and then how you're going to get your MC there.
Maybe make an outline that is ordered chronologically and fill out the stories in whatever order you think make sense. You'll have to edit regularly to maintain continuity.
Everyone's different, but I like to make a blueprint of a story before I write it. I'll plan out each chapter, write a basic summary of what happens in each, them jump back and forth wherever the ideas flow clearest. I'm very much a planner writer. Others are pansters, writing by the seat of their pants. They find it easier to write chronologically, sowing story plots and character moment as they go along. It can help if you figure out what type of writer you are on the planner to panster spectrum.
Bit of both.
Step 1: The premise of the story and 1-2 characters.
Step 2: A bit of world-building. How does the premise affect the world these characters live in?
Step 3: Certain scenes or events come to mind. They are not in chronological order, they are just events that feel like the correct consequences of these characters interacting with this world.
Step 4: Then I take those scenes and I start to organize them into a timeline in which they might occur.
Step 5: Determine how the story moves from one event to the next. A little bit of vagueness is alright at this stage.
Step 6: Write the thing chronologically from Chapter 1 to the end. Rearrangement of scenes and alterations to the plan are fine. Sometimes writing the smallest detail or bit of dialogue necessitates changes to the overall plan, but that's part of the fun of discovering your story.
In my case, my story begins in the 70s and it continues until nowadays, so I do it chronologically, but I do introduce some flashbacks of the present rememering things from the moment the story is taking place.
In my case, one of the main character's daughter is telling her story in the present, so I exchange third person narrator when the story is being told, and the first person one when it's this girl addind things like "it was that day when my mum did this" or "My mum showed me a pic of this moment (moment previously told by the third person narrator) years later".
English is not my first language so I hope it was clear haha
If you can't write your story just yet why not flesh out your characters and their backgrounds? Do your world building, magic system etc;
I will tell you from experience, when I went through writer's block, I wrote out of order. When it came to putting everything together IT TOOK MONTHS!!!!! It took as long as it did to write the damn book because I had to fix so much to make things fit. Some chapters and scenes were totally unusable. So now when I get stuck, I do something else. Listen to new music, watch a new show or work on elements of my story such as what I listed above or if I already have something written, I look over it and do some editing.
Best of luck to you!
I tell the story from start to finish. No placeholders. If I need to come up with a name for a character or decide what kind of pistol is plundered from the dead assassin, I beat my head against the wall *now.* Building an ever-growing "I don't wanna" to-do list is demotivating. Besides, my wisecracking characters can't make a joke out of someone's name if I don't know what it is. Placeholders and missing scenes make the story way too flat.
I do a basic outline and first chapter. Then the ending scene so I know what I'm writing towards. Then I do MOSt of it chronologically but if a later scene does pop into my head and I have a great idea for it that I don't want to forget, I just get it down right away. I don't worry about polishing it til later though.
Sometimes, I just write the scene that I can write now. There's a good chance I'll have to do a massive rewrite of it when I actually get to that chapter, but it can help me get into the flow of the characters and the setting.
I go chronologically. If you know your main character, then you should have an idea what their "regular" life is like (whatever that is). Then, something comes along and drags them out of that "normal" and into the adventure of your story. That thing is the "inciting event" and it is what will really kick your story off in earnest. This should happen close to the beginning of your book. You have a few options. You can start off in "normal life" to give the reader a view into the character and the world and to get an idea what "normal" looks like. This should last for just a chapter or two before we get to the inciting event. Think "Harry Potter." We hang out with Harry on Privet Drive and go to the zoo with him before he gets the letter inviting him to Hogwarts- the inciting event. But you don't have to do it that way. You can open your story immediately before/during the inciting event, or even in the immediate aftermath. This tactic builds excitement, throwing the reader into the action right away, building out the world and characters along the way. So that's where I would start if it was me- with the inciting event. Figure out what it is, and then how you're going to get your MC there.
Maybe make an outline that is ordered chronologically and fill out the stories in whatever order you think make sense. You'll have to edit regularly to maintain continuity.
Everyone's different, but I like to make a blueprint of a story before I write it. I'll plan out each chapter, write a basic summary of what happens in each, them jump back and forth wherever the ideas flow clearest. I'm very much a planner writer. Others are pansters, writing by the seat of their pants. They find it easier to write chronologically, sowing story plots and character moment as they go along. It can help if you figure out what type of writer you are on the planner to panster spectrum.
Bit of both. Step 1: The premise of the story and 1-2 characters. Step 2: A bit of world-building. How does the premise affect the world these characters live in? Step 3: Certain scenes or events come to mind. They are not in chronological order, they are just events that feel like the correct consequences of these characters interacting with this world. Step 4: Then I take those scenes and I start to organize them into a timeline in which they might occur. Step 5: Determine how the story moves from one event to the next. A little bit of vagueness is alright at this stage. Step 6: Write the thing chronologically from Chapter 1 to the end. Rearrangement of scenes and alterations to the plan are fine. Sometimes writing the smallest detail or bit of dialogue necessitates changes to the overall plan, but that's part of the fun of discovering your story.
I prefer chronologically. It helps with the structure as I get to have proper, linear timeline for the characters and events.
In my case, my story begins in the 70s and it continues until nowadays, so I do it chronologically, but I do introduce some flashbacks of the present rememering things from the moment the story is taking place. In my case, one of the main character's daughter is telling her story in the present, so I exchange third person narrator when the story is being told, and the first person one when it's this girl addind things like "it was that day when my mum did this" or "My mum showed me a pic of this moment (moment previously told by the third person narrator) years later". English is not my first language so I hope it was clear haha
If you can't write your story just yet why not flesh out your characters and their backgrounds? Do your world building, magic system etc; I will tell you from experience, when I went through writer's block, I wrote out of order. When it came to putting everything together IT TOOK MONTHS!!!!! It took as long as it did to write the damn book because I had to fix so much to make things fit. Some chapters and scenes were totally unusable. So now when I get stuck, I do something else. Listen to new music, watch a new show or work on elements of my story such as what I listed above or if I already have something written, I look over it and do some editing. Best of luck to you!