On last Friday’s episode, Cathi and I talked about how we approached writing our books. We know we are not experts, not even published yet, but we have learned a lot over the past couple years. And I would say that the first thing is … there is no “right” way to write a book. Every author we have talked to has a unique approach which is usually a variation of the pantser or plotter pathways. Add to that, each book by a particular author may have come to fruition in a different way.
Even knowing this, we are endlessly fascinated by each author’s process. It’s a question we always ask and it is the most common question we get from others!
My usual M.O. is to get an idea of a character who is in a unique or harrowing situation and then I start writing letting my imagination lead me where it wants. At some point I develop the conflict and create the thrilling (I hope) path to resolution. I keep or discard ideas along the way, based on research or what flows naturally. I do eventually have to organize scenes and make outlines to keep all the clues and subplots together. I am more of a pantser.
Cathi has an entirely different approach. She delves deeply into research when she has a topic that she finds interesting. From there she develops a plot and outlines and does even more research. This is all before she even starts writing! She is more of a plotter.
Of course, these are our tendencies but we have been known to jump to the other side on occasion. We talked about this in our Writer’s Perspective segment of our podcast (S2E1) and we invariable discuss it with every author in our Corks and Conversation episodes. So have a listen because we know you want to know!
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