Making a scene

I'm off to Comic-con in San Diego tomorrow. I've read all the Eisner nominees in our category, and they're fantastic and completely different from each other. If I had to vote, you know, I'd vote for rapunzel's revenge, but only if I absolutely had to. I hope to get some good photos for the pleasure of ya'll. I'm really wishing I had an Orion slave girl costume, but don't think I could stand all that green body makeup.

I was asked in a Q&A recently if I'd learned any short cuts over the years in my writing process. Only one came to mind.

I tend to write pretty linearly when doing a first draft, starting at the beginning and going forward. I have pages of notes before I start a first draft, but the actual telling of the story always changes what I thought I would do. What I assume will be the midpoint ends up 90% through the story, or in the first third. Big events I think will happen don't make sense anymore. And so on.

But as I'm writing, I do get ideas both for later events in the book or for other books. I used to just write a quick note. That's changed. Now I write it out in scene, with dialog, narration, whatever it requires. This saves time later. Often when I get the idea, it's so clear in my head I think a note will do. But a month later when I read it, it's flat and uninteresting and I don't have the essence of it anymore. Writing in scene helps me capture that moment more fully, preserve it so I can consider it later. Also, it's more fun.

My short cut: always write in scenes