Patti O'Shea's Blog

I’d love to talk about my stories more. Not just writing them in a general sort of way, but about the characters and their pasts and their stories. But then I think, well, what I’m writing now won’t be out for months (it’s a short story) and the full-length books I write can take a year or more from when I turn them in to when they appear on the shelves. So if I talk about what I’m working on right now, a reader would have to wait forever for that story.

The simple solution would be to talk about my books as they come out. That way it would be fresh for the reader and timely. The problem with this is that by the time a book is released, those characters are long gone and my head is full of new people. If I’m writing proposals, I might have written multiple heroes and heroines by this point, and the fine details on the previous characters fades.

And the other big thing is that even if I could bring those old characters forward again, they’d interfere with my writing the new characters. Since I usually have a deadline, either for a sold project or a self-imposed one, I don’t like to do this. Anything that puts space between me and the people I’m supposed to be writing is something I try to avoid.

Then there are the spoilers to consider. I’m kind of bad about revealing too much and this is another reason I tend not to talk about what I’m currently working on. Oh, sure, I can do quick little blurbs without giving too much away, but that’s about my limit.

There was a quote I read once that stuck with me. Not who said it or the exact wording, but the gist of it was that you shouldn’t watch how laws or sausages are made. I’d paraphrase that to you shouldn’t watch how books are written or sausages are made. The writing process can be messy and ugly and torturous at times and I don’t want how hard it is to write a book affecting a reader’s perception of that story. Because difficulty in writing doesn’t necessarily translate into the reading experience.

I’ve heard other authors talk about books they wrote that they hate because of how hard it was for them to write them, but that those are the books readers seem to always comment on how quickly and smoothly the story read, etc. But would those readers feel that way if they knew the author struggled mightily?

I’d hate to test that out, although I do sometimes post on Twitter about trashing a chapter again and rewriting. That just seems less serious than a blog post where I talked at length about why a scene isn’t working. A tweet is transitory, there and gone in the timeline, but blogging about it seems more ponderous and permanent.

When it comes to writing, there are plotters and there are pantsers. Plotters are the people who do detailed outlines and know what’s going to happen throughout their story. Pantsers sit down and write without a roadmap. Most writers fall somewhere in between these two ends of the spectrum.

One way isn’t more right than the other. Writers have to do whatever works for them. If you need an 80 page synopsis and no surprises before they start, do it. If the idea of 3×5 cards paralyzes you, don’t do them. Just sit down and write.

Somewhere along the way, pantsers have been told too many times that plotting is the only right way to write. It’s not.

When I was 14, I decided I wanted to be a writer and tell stories. I went to the library and checked out all the writing books they had. Every single one was written by a plotter. The methods sounded torturous to me, but I wanted to be a “real” writer, and since all the books agreed that plotting was the way to go, I tried to force myself into that box. I even took my allowance and bought the vital 3×5 index cards.

Instead of being fun and a joy, writing became a misery to me. I hated doing those stupid index cards. I had no clue what was going to happen next, how could I write it down? I started doing everything I could to avoid writing and I finally had a realization. I’d never write again if I tried to do it the way the books said.

I threw the index cards in a drawer and said to myself, “Maybe I’ll never be a real writer, but at least I’ll have fun again.”

Because of this, I’m hypersensitive to anyone saying their way is the “right” way to write. It’s right for you. Do whatever works for you. If you need to write on lilac paper with an orange gel pen, go for it. If you need to fast draft and then go back and revise, go for it. If you need to totally soar into the mist and figure out the nitty gritty plot details on revision, go for it.

There is no right way!

And you know what else? Your process will change. Go with the flow and don’t fight to do things the way you’ve always done them. What works on one book might not work on the next.

I used to be fairly far over on the pantser side of the spectrum, now I’ve moved toward the center. I’m still not a plotter. If my characters didn’t surprise me, there’d be no point for me to write. That’s what I love: the discovery and the surprises. Others don’t feel that way. I’m okay with that. My way isn’t the right way for anyone except me. Your way isn’t the right way for anyone except you. Writing is hard enough without fighting your own process. Trust yourself and how you need to work.