Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I'm most of a day late with my Wednesday post for the simple reason that I lost track of the days again. This is a nice problem to have, especially as it's because I'm back on the road again, this time hanging in Maine with a friend, enjoying the fall colors (but that overnight flight cost me a day, somehow. Not sure how that worked...). In any case, it's time for my annual (more or less) post about preparing for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and plotting vs. pantsing. In so many aspects of my life, I like to fly by the seat of my pants. On my recent road trip, I seldom knew where I would stop until I got there. Even while backpacking in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, I didn't try to stick too closely to a plan, going instead where it seemed to make sense given the weather (on other sorts of trips, I do like to know exactly where I'm going and why, but that's a different story). We've been here before, though. Writing a mystery with no plan ...

 It felt like about time to write about the writing process again, not just about me! Though of course anything I say about the process is actually about me--about my process, which is by no means "the" process, or even one of the best. Since my new Pismawallops PTA mystery is being proof-read, I'm moving on (sort of) to the next project--developing a new mystery series. Since the last time I developed a new series, rather than a new book in an existing world, is a fair ways back, I'm figuring out how to do that. I was going to say that I'm figuring it out all over again, but I remembered that when I wrote the first Pismawallops PTA book I didn't have an outline for the book, much less any sort of pre-developed world. Since I also remember the mess that created, I'm trying to go at this one in a more orderly fashion. I've read a lot about how to develop your characters by thinking about their needs/wants/desires, how to develop setting, and so on. Play...

Battle of the Brains: Planning Vs. Pantsing   Hey, everyone! I'm coming up for air (from the depths of my new MS) and wanted to let you know how it's all going--especially that extensive outline I started with! We're three weeks in, which means most of us are in the doldrums. At least, that's where I am. I've been managing to meet my word counts every day, but I feel like I'm forcing it out. Like I have constipation of the imagination. This, of course, is famously where the outline helps. So is my outline helping? Have I stuck to the plan well enough for it to have any meaning at all at this point? Yes and no, on both counts. I've wandered a bit--things I planned for one point have ended up happening earlier, which leaves me with holes, or a lack of a point for a planned scene. But I do still have a more or less chronological list of the the things that need to happen to get to the solution of the mystery, and I can consult it when I'm flagging. I also h...