Have an Umbrella? From Drizzle to Deluge

Late last year I decided to allow for more spontaneity in every aspect of my life in 2008. Some would deem this a resolution, but I prefer calling this a new approach or outlook. Instead of resorting to advanced planning I’d let Life surprise me from time to time. Go figure. The moment I let down my guard, Life turned nasty over the past several days. All was going along smoothly and then—Wham—certain events threatened to veer me off course in a major way. I was thankful I hadn’t lost my fondness of contingency plans. The resulting reality check—no matter how much I want to slacken my grip on those proverbial reins, I can’t toss them aside for extended periods of time. Remaining flexible, while recalling and utilizing past successful strategies, is the best way for me to navigate emergencies and devastating news or events. This also holds true for my writing. Sometimes freestyle works well, sometimes a more choreographed method works better.

For the past seven years I’ve been writing full-time. Over those years, my process has changed and morphs with each story written. In the beginning, I surrendered completely to my creativity and didn’t use plotting sheets or a white board. Before I wrote the first sentence, I knew the story’s beginning and ending and some of the rising action scenes, but I didn’t script anything formally. On reflection, that process didn’t work and cost me more time during the self-editing of subsequent drafts. Currently I prefer plotting most of the scenes in advance, but I allow for spontaneity and don’t mind tossing out scenes already jotted in favor of ones that work better for the plot and/or characterization.

What about you? Are you an advance planner, a go-with-the-flow type, or a person who favors an approach somewhere in between?

Feel the heat in erotic fiction,

Shawna Moore
ROUGHRIDER – Ellora’s Cave
HELLE IN HEELS – Ellora’s Cave
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