Blank Screen

I love it when I begin a new project and I see the blank screen. That great expanse of white is calling to me, begging me to fill it with a jumble of letters that will eventually become a story.

I, my dear friends, am a pantser. No, no, no. I do not run around pulling men's pants down to their knees. (However, it is a thought to be considered.) In the writing industry a pantser is someone who sits down and writes, no lengthy outlines, no fifty page synopsis, no binders full of notes. Just the writer, the writing instrument, and the words in the author's head.

Each word that hits the computer screen is a surprise and the story can take you places you wouldn't believe. There are times you have to rope the characters in and pull them back to the original story.

My friend Karen Frisch, author of What's in a Name is my opposite. She is a plotter. She writes extensive notes. She shuffles them around, cuts and pastes, until she has the story in the order she wants it, then she sits down and fills in the good stuff that holds the story together. She knows once she sits down that all her research is done. Her plot is set. Her clues are embedded. She has a firm road map and she knows where it is taking her.

Amanda Torrey, author of Teen Fury Unleashed, is a plotster. She does some of her plotting ahead of time, but most of her writing comes from the seat of her pants.

I have one story, I refer to as my psychotic thriller, that I am a puzzler with. I do not work on this book often, but when scenes come to me I write them down and place them where ever they belong in the story. I had actually written the final chapter the same day as I wrote the first chapter and ever since I have been adding puzzle pieces to the middle. I'll let you know how that works out when I have a chance to finish it.

What is your method of writing?