Writing out of order

When I first graduated high school, I had this idea of being an Art Major.  I think I was toying with the idea of going into comics.  I still draw from time to time, but I dedicate most my efforts to writing these days.  But, there are several major concepts that translate from drawing into writing.

1)  Create out of order.  When you draw a person you don't draw the eye finished and perfect and then move onto the next eye.  When you do that -- you lose the sense of the whole.  I've got a half done image of a Jim Lee cover.  You'll notice he sort of sketches all over to get the idea -- sure there are a few parts that are just a tad more rounded than others -- but for the most part he's figuring things out "in general" and then closing in on them -- slowly getting the proportions right, slowly getting the perspective right.  So, for writing -- that means you might write a scene you know is going to be at the end first.  Or you might write some idea you have for an argument -- don't know where it should go, but it could work -- write it -- see how it fits into the overall perspective as you go.  Don't try and figure it all out ahead of time!

2)  Pencil.  Lately I've been doing a lot of my first drafts or ideas of scenes with a pencil and paper -- it just seems more forgiving.  Not as permanent.  There's something scary about typing things out on a page -- I mean, I know the delete key is right there (which is a whole other topic)... but pencil just seems to open up all kinds off possibilities.  You can draw, write, write upsideown, draw arrows -- seems like a better place to play.

So, as I motivate myself to put pencil to paper... give it a shot!