I’m happy to announce that
I am writing again. Okay, so it’s not “writing,” writing. But I
am finally back to working on my current manuscript, which was
derailed some months back when I realized I was running in place, going
nowhere, and the book was getting downright boring.
The fiction-writing
community likes to talk about two camps of writers: outliners and
pantsers (i.e., seat-of-the-pants types). I definitely have the
personality of an outliner. I’m someone who makes endless lists,
plans trips months ahead, and knows what I’m going to make for
dinner three days hence.
an example of my
organizational tendencies
But when I sat down to write
my current book, Such a Smell of Sulfur (the sequel to my
first m.s., A Matter of Taste), I was so eager to get going
that I started writing before I had a clear plot-line in my head.
Sure, I knew “who dunnit,” and why, and even had a list of
suspects and red herrings. But the story arc was still a jumble. In
other words, I was pantsing it. Bad idea.
