Authors Electric

Are you a plotter or a pantser? This question is not infrequently found in online writers groups. Spike, the dictionary cat... It’s one I had never thought about until I joined the rather diverse community of a couple of online writing groups. One was pretty useful, the other maybe less so... There I soon learned how many of us humans decide at a really young age that, contrary to what used to be the memes about racing drivers, explorers, even sports stars or nurses, what captivates the imagination of the young child, sometimes even under the age of learning to read, is to be a writer! This particular career had never occurred to me: surely writers were elevated people such as Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome, the Brontë sisters, the slightly risqué Lynne Reid Banks, the more conventional Anne Tyler, and of course whoever it was who wrote Winnie the Pooh? Of course having a mind stuffed full of this and that diverse content and ideas, and having attended university rather than art sc...

  Having just read back my January post, I’ve realised I’m not quite as despondent this month – so far anyway. I’ve worked on two book ideas. Still not sure if they’re feasible or not. I’m a natural pantser so writing an outline for a book is rather alien to me – especially if I’ve been asked for 3-4 sides. Although, having said that, one of my outlines is 2 sides and the other is 5 so I think they balance one another out. It’s been hard though. I’m so used to ideas developing as I write. Trying to think a story all the way through just doesn’t work for me. I used to infuriate one particular person in my writing class as he would ask me how many chapters I was going to write for my novel and I’d just shrug and answer, ‘However many are needed.’ It’s odd though because in life I’m a natural planner. I plan our meals for the week and shop accordingly. I’ll always check train times and make sure they’re actually working before I leave the house. (This was particularly useful this we...

 I've reached that tricky point in the middle of my current book where all the setup is done but it's too early to start writing the conclusion. I want to keep the pacing and further develop the characters whilst pushing the story towards the conclusion, but this is probably my most ambitious book yet in terms of characters and the different strands of storyline I'm trying to weave together. To try and avoid too much overwriting (and keep the various threads straight) I've been experimenting with plotting over the past few weeks.   I've always been a pantser when writing - previous attempts at plotting have resulted in wooden plots and stilted dialogue which I've only been able to resolve by abandoning the detailed plot (which always seemed fine until written) and letting the characters do their thing. I figure, if I don't know exactly how things are going to turn out, then neither will the reader, and they'll (hopefully) remain engaged with the book...

For my first blog with the esteemed writers of Authors Electric, I’d like to share something about myself as a writer. I won’t bore you with my personal history, my likes and dislikes, shoe size, etc. Almost anything you want to know about me is on my website if you’re curious enough (except maybe the shoe size). I’ll address something that is not always evident about most writers, and that is … are they plotters or pantsers? Let me explain the difference. A plotter researches a book before writing it, laying out an overview with major plot points. Plotters know what will happen at the beginning, middle, and end of the book. Character sketches are usually part of the outline. R.L. Stine:   “If you do enough planning before you start to write, there's no way you can have writer's block. I do a complete chapter by chapter outline.” John Grisham:   “I've learned that the more time I spend on the outline the easier the book is to write. And if I cheat on ...