BoM/TWS Message Forum

Every writer has its own style, and while there may be overlaps, they can be distinctive.

I'm of the kind that has to jot everything I do and recheck chapters, but also the kind that goes from spot to spot. The chaos comes on trying to tie those spots, and how what I've written influences what'll come next. If a spot is two or three chapters away, there's little chance of change, but if the spot suddenly has a five-, seven- or ten-chapter gap, developments between the chapters may end up changing things a bit, and that has a chain reaction effect.

I'll say that spending long periods of time between finishing one chapter and going to the next can sometimes change things, regardless of your writing style. A story's conclusion will rarely be related to the beginning because everything from the overall intention of the story, how it evolves and how external influences* bleed into the story invariably change it, and keeping notes and tabs on everything doesn't always prevent you from altering the structure of the story in ways you might not expect.

* By "external influences", I mean a lot of things. It can be as close as reading another chapter, as distant as reading something in a book or seeing a chapter from a series or a movie that stirs your interest, or as personal as something that happened to you in your daily life or perhaps something you've written from your own stuff.