Today I am pleased to welcome, Jessica McCann, the fabulous author of All Different Kinds of Free, her amazing debut novel. My review of the book is here. Because I love this quote from the book so much, I have to re-publish it here:
“A book is like the best friend you can imagine. Once you read a book, it stays with you forever. And she was right. Next to my children, reading is the greatest blessing I ever got.”
Here’s Jessica:
My teenage daughter and her circle of friends love Manga — Asian graphic novels that you read from back to front, right to left. She gave me one to read not long ago, one with a story she thought I would love. I tried to read it, I really did. Just couldn’t do it. It felt completely bass-ackwards reading a book that way, and it prevented me from enjoying the story.
That doesn’t mean “backwards” is wrong, though. My daughter loves reading that way. And (for you older folks) Seinfeld fans might remember a popular episode that aired backwards, scene by scene. It featured the gang flying to India for the wedding of a woman who had long been one of Elaine’s archenemies. Why on Earth would they spend the time and money on such a trip? Because the scenes played out in reverse, we didn’t get the answer to that question until the end of the show. Would that particular episode have been as funny or interesting had we learned the reason in the opening scene? Probably not.
Freelance writer and memoir author Jessica Handler encourages writers to write out of order. “Just because your story follows a timeline doesn’t mean you have to write it linearly,” she says in her article, “Writing without a Map,” in The Writer magazine (May 2011). “If you’re inspired to write a scene other than the one that comes next in your manuscript, go for it. You can put the story in the right order later.”
When I was working on the early drafts of my first novel, the opening five or so chapters in particular felt like one of those Jumble word puzzles — in which the letters are all mixed up and you have a clue to solve or question to answer. I had to re-arrange those chapters several times before the order finally felt right, before the answer become clear.
Does your writing sometimes feel backwards? Don’t give up on it. Just keep writing and keep moving pieces of the story around. Run it backwards and forwards. When it’s right, you’ll know it (even if that means the story plays out backwards), and you’ll hold your readers to the very end… or the beginning.
Jessica McCann, a professional freelance writer and novelist, lives with her family in Phoenix, Arizona. Her nonfiction work has been published in Business Week, The Writer and Phoenix magazines, among others. All Different Kinds of Free (Bell Bridge Books, April 2011) is her award-winning debut novel. She welcomes interaction with readers and writers at her website (www.jessicamccann.com) and on Twitter (@JMcCannWriter).
What are you reading and where are you going?
I love the quote and I really love what Jessica said about writing backwards…. sometimes I also write better when I just spit out bullet points on what I am thinking about…. then write each bullet separately- often writing the last one first, then the first one, and wrapping up in the middle. It’s like I know where I want to end up, and kind of where I want to start- but it’s the middle that I need to work out….. so this helps sometimes!
I should not give my opinions on writing or reading (or probably anything else). I have been known to read (okay, I only did this one time) chapter one and two, then the last chapter, then chapters in the middle.
Not sure what that says about me.
Here’s my post: Sunday Salon: Is My Kid Stupid? I hope you will stop by.
What a great idea and a great post. We get so stuck in the idea of linearity, it’s very freeing to think that we don’t have to follow in some pre-set order.
Thanks so much for hosting me on your site, Andrea! And thanks to those who have stopped by and commented. I’m so glad my thoughts on writing backwards struck a chord with you.
Great topic. We are taught so much about grammar rules, punctuation rules, types of writing to follow. It is refreshing to hear that it is ok to have your ow style. Just dive in and do it, make your own rules, make your own style. I very freeing approach. I feel inspired! Thank you!
-Laverne
Love this post, Jessica! Did you know that the talented Diana Gabaldon writes this way? I think that might be my problem with my WIP. I am trying to figure everything out before I write it down when I really just need to write the scenes as they come and rearrange later. Thank you for the inspiration!!
Thanks for your thoughts, Laverne. I love the idea of making your own rules! Glad I could provide a little inspiration for you. Happy writing!
Hi Hallie, thanks for stopping by. Wow, I’m honored to be in the same category as Diana Gabaldon. Ha. I’ll take it! Another interesting idea from the article I reference above — the author actually printed out her manuscript and laid it out down the hallways in her house, chapter by chapter, so she could physically rearrange them. Whatever works is what works. Good luck with your revisions!