In the writing community, there’s a divide between those who plot the storyline of their books first, and those who “pants” it, or dive right in to writing without a plan. They say that if they plot, they lose interest in the story and that they like to be surprised. I’m a plotter. It makes me nervous to not know where my story is going and I find that I tend to get writer’s block if I don’t know what happens in the next chapter. This is especially important in writing mysteries because you have to start hiding clues/red herrings early on. Some of them I add in later, but I try to make sure I already have some planned. My favorite part of writing is coming up with the plot and letting the characters tell me what they want Read more…