Writing Future Scene Ideas - Write now or Make notes for later?

[Freesia.Cutepearl]

I was curious how others handle this sort of thing? I ran into this as I had begun to come up with ideas for a scene I expected soon, but realized after I began writing it, that it really would make much more sense if I delayed it for later and further developed some ideas and thoughts of the main character for the emotions in the scene to make more sense.

Before I knew it I had imagined many future interactions between the main character and the one in that scene, I kind of want to write them but I also am not certain about the direction of some things and I could see myself writing them differently later. No amount of notes will retain the nuance I could write right now, but all of that work might be pointless anyway if later I feel a different tone for the scene.

I'm not sure if there is really a good answer.

Interested in your thoughts. Thank you

 

[IvyVeritas]

It depends on how inspiring the idea is. I make a list of a ton of scenes that need to happen in the future, but sometimes I get inspired by one and decide to write it out. Depending on how far in the future it is, it might have to be revised to fit the current state of the story once I get there, but it also helps to provide a target to work toward.

Before I started writing my current series, I actually wrote 18k words from the end of the third book. I've just now reached that spot, and I'm going to have to rewrite the whole thing (after two and a half books, the characters now have personalities, quirks, and relationships with each other, and some things went a different way than I'd originally envisioned), but I can keep all the same basic story beats from the original version, and it was nice to have that target to aim for.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

As for me, I have two approaches. One is that, I write the scene immediately, complete with the details that I want included. And the other is that, I list down the ideas first, then refer to it once I come to that particular event.

The first approach would satisfy your desire to create the scene. Just remember to adjust it to go along with your story's narrative. The downside is, your excitement and interest might lose steam once you finish it.

The second approach is better, narrative-wise. It gives you the time to adjust your story to that particular scene and vice-versa, as you go along. For short, there are less chances of having inconsistencies (plot-holes). The downside is, it's quite annoying that you would be so excited to write the future scene, that the present ones would pale in comparison.

 

[MrTiemos]

Personally I make notes since it’s likely going to change anyways is I flesh it out, however IvyVeritas makes a great point in that it becomes a goal to reach that written section

 

[Saileri]

Personally, I take shitloads of notes all the time. Even sometimes during writing a chapter, I take a short break just to open my notes and add a few points to them. Then, when I reach the moment, these points just make it easier for me to visualize what I had in mind in the past and allow me to follow the script a bit. Why not write the scene when it comes to me? Because first drafts aren't usually perfect and also before I reach that point, a lot of things can change in the story or character department.

So, yeah, tens of notes daily for me. I did write one chapter far into the future but that was just because I had insane need to do so at that moment. Now it will be lying there waiting for a year before I catch up to the spot.

 

[Maple-Leaf]

I can't really talk since I haven't written much, but I have a general set of events I plan to make happen before "certain plot point"/"some other climax thingy" so on and so forth. It's like I'm trying to build a river on flat ground by placing a few large boulders where I plan for the sides to be. Half the time it ends up flowing in a direction I didn't intend and I'll look back from the large boulder I painstakingly rolled over only to find my river veered way to the right at the very beginning.
Anyway my concerns about overall quality and chapter flow trumps many worries about planning ahead. That's probably a bad thing, but hey, I got myself my trusty flow chart of main events to guide(?) me.

 

[Freesia.Cutepearl]

I appreciate the feedback, thank you

I think I have a bit more and an idea now how I want to handle things. If your curious, I plan to go ahead and work on the near future one that started this, but leave all the extra later scenes/conversations to notes for when I get to those points.

Edit: I really feel the excitement about future stuff people mentioned, I have an overarching plot idea, and thinking about these scenes further developed that, but I'm nowhere even close to realizing it in the story.

 

[DubstheDuke]

I have a file folder on my computer.

This file folder contains information on my story.

This file folder is filled with like 30 documents and more folders within it, which detail almost everything that I ever have planned and or done in my story.

Plot notes. Volume outlines. Character designs and backstories. World maps and lore. Plans for scenes that will happen literally entire volumes ahead of where I am currently in the story. Lists of abilities and power rankings. You name it. It's all there.

 

[Tim_Saian]

Make notes. Even if you're a plotter there's only so much you can write according to the plot you've set out. So if you write those future scenes now, in the future there is a likelihood that you'll be forced to throw it away because what you've written directly before it causes nothing to make sense or you'd have to constantly write and tweak chapters and scenes to enusre that what you've written happens the way it happens with no questionable plot holes.

Better to just make a note and know that you want something like this to happen or you want this guy to kill that guy. Basically, plot it, but leave it to future you to write.
Goodluck.

 

[Freesia.Cutepearl]

I have a file folder on my computer.

This file folder contains information on my story.

This file folder is filled with like 30 documents and more folders within it, which detail almost everything that I ever have planned and or done in my story.

Plot notes. Volume outlines. Character designs and backstories. World maps and lore. Plans for scenes that will happen literally entire volumes ahead of where I am currently in the story. Lists of abilities and power rankings. You name it. It's all there.

I envy you, I don't think I could keep it all straight. I already sometimes forget to write down bits of a scene that played out in my head, not realizing I missed them until reading over things and editing, sometimes even after re-reading and publishing. I literally wrote a scene with a character complaining about something that had only happened in my head and didn't occur in the story yet. Weeee. Big Brain Moment

Hopefully, with more practice and experience I can get closer to a point like that, I had a sci-fi story in mind but I wanted more writing practice first so I came up with an inconsequential side story but found myself too stuck in worldbuilding and jumping back and forth in time and such, so came up with another really 'loose' story to practice everything on(AKA Lilith's story).

Actually, I'd be interested to know if you've found any nice tools for creating and compiling all this information, I had found some for map tools and world info organization, like a personal wiki almost, but never really used them because they either cost money or were limited with free or trial options. (I'm not opposed to paying for things but it seems silly to pay for a professional level service as a first-time hobbyist, that sort of thing)

Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

[DubstheDuke]

I envy you, I don't think I could keep it all straight. I already sometimes forget to write down bits of a scene that played out in my head, not realizing I missed them until reading over things and editing, sometimes even after re-reading and publishing. I literally wrote a scene with a character complaining about something that had only happened in my head and didn't occur in the story yet. Weeee. Big Brain Moment

Hopefully, with more practice and experience I can get closer to a point like that, I had a sci-fi story in mind but I wanted more writing practice first so I came up with an inconsequential side story but found myself too stuck in worldbuilding and jumping back and forth in time and such, so came up with another really 'loose' story to practice everything on(AKA Lilith's story).

Actually, I'd be interested to know if you've found any nice tools for creating and compiling all this information, I had found some for map tools and world info organization, like a personal wiki almost, but never really used them because they either cost money or were limited with free or trial options. (I'm not opposed to paying for things but it seems silly to pay for a professional level service as a first-time hobbyist, that sort of thing)

Thanks everyone for the replies.

World anvil is something that I heavily considered at one point and it looked very promising, however I was already so far into my story that it would have taken too long for me to get all my information down in there.

 

[OneRanter]

I was curious how others handle this sort of thing? I ran into this as I had begun to come up with ideas for a scene I expected soon, but realized after I began writing it, that it really would make much more sense if I delayed it for later and further developed some ideas and thoughts of the main character for the emotions in the scene to make more sense.

Before I knew it I had imagined many future interactions between the main character and the one in that scene, I kind of want to write them but I also am not certain about the direction of some things and I could see myself writing them differently later. No amount of notes will retain the nuance I could write right now, but all of that work might be pointless anyway if later I feel a different tone for the scene.

I'm not sure if there is really a good answer.

Interested in your thoughts. Thank you

I tried that once and ended up with a mess and stuck multiple times, it felt too much like working and I couldn't keep going on that way. The more I can manage is a plotline with a general idea of what the characters in the world want/fear/etc and advance with it.
As for the scenes what I do is keeping a list of songs that go with the "mood" I feel the scene would have. That way when I am writing one scene, I play the song that should match it, and it keeps me from sticking lame puns when the mood should be serious or sad...

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Since I write everything in a paper notebook first, I keep two sets of notes: one in a side notebook for the first draft and one in my computer for when I type. Sometimes, I get ideas on how to improve the stuff I've already drafted but haven't typed yet after I've turned off my computer for the night, so I write those in the side notebook, then type them in my notes document in the morning.

 

[Freesia.Cutepearl]

This often happens to me, and in my hubris I go, "...eeeeh, I'll remember it later," and make no effort whatsoever to record my thoughts,

You're not alone. I did that with the sci-fi story in my head, barely wrote down any ideas. But, eh, hopefully, it'll be better after the practice I'm getting now, with Lilith's story.