So I've noticed I have a strange way of writing my books, whenever I think of a good way to write a certain scene I always go ahead and write the scene but all of the stuff I have so far are all chapters apart, how the hell do I fill in the spaces between?
i feel like many people write like this (including myself). i think it’s rare for writers to just sit and write from a to z.
i think just write whichever scenes come to you for as long as you can. and then when you’re out of ideas/writing mojo, step back and think “okay X happens in chapter # and then Y happens in chapter # so i need to connect these points.” do this for all the gaps you have. make a document that has your written chapters outlined in 1-2 sentences each (just a general summary) and leave spaces between them where you’ve got nothing written. take a few days or so to think of all the things that could happen in those spaces and how you could fill them with content related to the story but not have it be entirely filler. these chapters are good because they’re typically where character development and exposition come from, rather than the scenes we’re like OMG I NEED TO WRITE THIS which are typically action centered.
an example: let’s say in chapter 1 Mary goes to the store and in chapter 3 she’s at home gushing on the phone to her best friend about the cute guy she has a date with (the love interest). between Mary being at the store and being on the phone, you can use chapter 2 to develop her character. maybe she stops at her job, she could have a conversation with a roommate, she could sit there playing video games and trash talking the 14 year old boys, or she could go volunteer at a women’s shelter or something. each of these scenarios gives you a different type of character to work with (a career woman, a friendly woman, a gamer, and a humanitarian), plus something to fall back on if you’re stuck in a blank space later on (chapter 15, Mary needs to do something while waiting on date number 2 so she goes to volunteer or shops for a date outfit with her roommate).
you can always change stuff in your revisions after finishing draft one, but hopefully this will help you fill in some of the gaps!
