Yo-ho! Yo-ho! The pantser life for me!
Hey, gang! I’m back again this week, with a new/old trick. I’m reverting to my old pantser ways.
Reader say, “Wha?”
You see, the writing world is generally comprised of two types – plotters and pantsers. Plotters work out every detail of the book before they even open page one. Pantsers have an idea and run with it.
In other words, a pantser writes a story by the seat of their pants.
Most writers naturally gravitate to one style or the other. I started out as a pantser and continued that way for a number of books. But as my career progressed, I started selling books to publishers on proposal. Therefore, I needed to submit a detailed synopsis of each book I intended to write.
This is how I evolved into sort of a plantser – someone with a pretty sketched out outline of the book, but still winging it on a chapter by chapter basis.
But I am not currently under contract. I have no series to complete. I am, at the moment, free as a bird.
So what did I do?
I started writing a book I hadn’t even thought about until I opened my mouth Tuesday morning and a story started coming out.
One that hadn’t been hopping around in the plot bunny file. One I haven’t plotted, or even barely thought about. An idea popped into my head Monday night, and Tuesday, I started writing it.
This should be fun, huh?
In other news
Double Play is coming in October! Digital pre-order is available at all e-book retailers. The audio production is in progress, and should be ready for October 25, 2018 release.
Paperbacks will be available, They look fabulous, but I have to tell you, they are a little pricier than the usual mass market paperback. I wanted to produce them in the 4×7″ size to match the other two books, but there’s limited production availability for that trim size in print on demand.
ANNNND – I have declared 2019 the year of the backlist. As part of the celebration, I’ll be resurrecting some out of print friends – like Tracy & Sean from Contentment, Maggie & Tom from Commitment, and Lynne & Bram from Spring Chickens!
Whew! That’s what I have going on. What’s new with you?
I love how a story just pops in your head. Looking forward to it down the road.
Excited to read Double Play. It will look nice on my shelf next to the other two.
Just hearing you mention Contentment, Commitment, and Spring Chickens, makes me smile. Hello, old friends.
We’ll see where it goes… LOL
That pantser pic is perfection! Alliteration! I think I want to be a plotter, but my mind completely rebels against any kind of organization. Like, here I am, sitting at my desk on Monday morning, and doing last-minute prep work for second period. La, la, la… 😀
If I can’t plot, I don’t know if you’ll be able to….
I’m excited for you! Those wild and crazy, ‘this just popped into my head’ ideas are always the most fun to explore! Enjoy it to the fullest.
I was trying to work in a Men in Black reference here, something about me having to buy the White Album again because you’re re-releasing your older books, but it’s beyond my capabilities this morning. So I’ll just let it go by saying how much I love all of those titles!
I leave for vacation later this week, so I’m feeling pressed for time. Too much to prepare in just a few days. Even though I’m looking forward to the trip, my anxiety will be keeping me company this week!
Hey, no one can ever have too many copies of The White Album…