Jumping...

If I didn't already know that this book was going to be a series, I would have realized it now. I've seen major events that happen to my characters that I know don't happen in the current book I'm writing. That's kind of happened before. But nothing so definite as the strong desire to get those scenes down on paper (and my paper, I mean of course, the computer). I've done that twice now.

I've mentioned before how I don't necessarily write consecutively. Not all the time at least. There was a long (and by long, I mean six chapters) that I did. These six chapters literally took place one right after another with nothing meant to be in between. Usually, if I write "consecutively" there are gaps I place because I know other stuff will go between them. Not those six. Then I went "backwards" in time (the timeline in the book) to write an earlier chapter. After that... I was compelled to write a chapter that had been floating in my head for weeks, but didn't belong in this book (which I'll call Book 2). It (at the earliest) belongs in Book 3, maybe even 4.

At some point last month, I wrote a chapter that will go into Book 4. Again, I had to write it. It was much shorter than the piece that I've currently jumped to (currently 14 pages, compared to 3). In my mind, I do know that more takes place before and after it. So, it's not even a stand alone chapter, by any means. It takes some setup to explain to someone (like the few people who've read Book 1 and what exists for Book 2) where the characters are at... developmentally and location-wise.

These two "jump" chapters are some of my favorites... probably because they are scenes have been burning a whole in my brain and I finally got them down on paper.