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Thursday, March 6, 2025

Age old question for writers...

...plotter or pantser?

Let me tell you. I'd read tea leaves, if they told a good story. 😂

But seriously, I've tried to plot a story. It's not for me. I don't even wish it were for me. And I'll tell you why. I write by clicks. When I write, it's like a massive set of dominoes that's been set up. I start when the first domino falls.
If ever a domino doesn't fall, I've lost my click. I'm off the path. I stop. Find my way back. Begin again. Push the domino down and continue. 
I've added elements in a novel that I consciously didn't know where in the hell they came from, only to have them swoop back in, to perfectly make sense two-hundred pages later. When that happens?
Oh. You can't tell me NOTHING. 🥳 
I admire those that plot. You have your entire story all worked out. Plot points. The whole she-bang. You're amazing. 
I honestly don't think I could do it even under threat of harm. 🤔
Case in point, I have a scene, a HUGE SCENE, in "Out of the Shadows" that I've written three times, in three different ways.
If you guessed I'm writing it today, in a new and different way, you'd be correct. This version is going in the final manuscript. It fits better. I'm constantly trying to improve on what I do and how I do it. My brain is constantly running 100 meter sprints like an idiot, and I can't get the damn thing to stop. And I'm also working on other projects that my grey matter deems important at two something in the morning because WHY NOT? 😶
I don't like the word "pantser" because I feel that's not representative of me and who I am as a writer. Never much liked pigeonholes, anyway. So, I'm going to say I'm a mood writer. Because THAT has everything to do with what's coming out of the brain and through the fingertips.
Maybe I'm a moody writer.
Maybe this is going downhill fast.






















Always writing*

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