: Nonlinear novels Let's say that you are writing a novel whose narrative is non-linear. That means that when Chapter One refers to the present time, e.g. the 2010s, Chapter Two, instead of telling

Let's say that you are writing a novel whose narrative is non-linear. That means that when Chapter One refers to the present time, e.g. the 2010s, Chapter Two, instead of telling what happened right after Chapter One, refers to the past, e.g. the 1950s. And this structure goes on and on through the chapters.

My question is what to write first. Let's assume that it's about a novel with three different stories, but somehow related to one another, more or less. Chapters One, Five, and Eighteen describe the first story, the same thing happens to the other stories.

In your opinion, what is the most effective way to write a well-balanced/structured novel yet nonlinear: to write the first story in its whole, and then break it up in small chapters, or to write a section of the first story in the first chapter, and in the second (chapter) to write a section of the second story, etc.

This question may be opinion-based, but I think it will help me understand how writers work, and be influenced by them.

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@Nimeshi163

Some good examples of this kind of story to study:

E. L. Konigsburg, Silent to the Bone. Hops back and forth between the
present day and the events leading up to the present situation.

Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon. Jumps around between the 1990s and the
1930s-40s, multiple viewpoints.

Spider Robinson, Mindkiller. Two alternating stories told by two
narrators, a few years apart. Connection not revealed until the end.

Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Jumps all
over the place in multiple eras, told from many viewpoints. I had to
read it twice before I could really follow it.

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: Nonlinear novels Let's say that you are writing a novel whose narrative is non-linear. That means that when Chapter One refers to the present time, e.g. the 2010s, Chapter Two, instead of telling

More posts by @Rambettina586

: Novel set in Forgotten Realms universe My question regards using the forgotten realms setting for writing a novel. I'll explain. My original intention was to request permission to write a novel

: How to research and discover topic popularity and trends to determine topic selection for article writing? I have been asked to write various technical and non-technical articles about computer

: How to motivate yourself to finish something? Far too many stories of mine have gone unfinished simply because I lost motivation to keep writing (and it doesn't help that I manage to convince

: What are potential pitfalls for a young writer? Though I'm by no means perfect, I generally consider myself a good writer. The issue is that most older writers I know look back on their writing

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