About a year ago, I sat down to write Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love. Even just that short time ago, I was a complete and total pantser. I had a vague idea in my head, the injury and Ben flying across the country, and I just started writing it willy nilly and hoping it all came out in the end. Fortunately it did, I finished by the deadline and was able to submit it and it was accepted.
But what a difference a year makes.
Now I’m a combination writer, have been all year long, and it’s made such a huge difference for me. If it was a year ago, I would have started writing this new story, gotten a good four or five thousand words in, and had to scrap it because it just didn’t work. Now though, even though I have begun plotting, I could see that it wasn’t going to work. It nice stuff, good stuff even, but the structure is not going to work, and it would turn into something….not good. So! Now I know I’m not going to do it that way, and I’ve tucked those notes out of the way, and made a few keyword entries on the chalkboard to work them in if I can. Right now, they’re backstory, which is not a bad thing at all, so these scenes may never see the light of day. That’s okay too.
At least I know my characters.
At any rate, it’s back to the starting over point. My boys are vivid and real, and together we’ll sort out their story as it’s meant to be told. Eventually. And at least I know what doesn’t work. That’s how I’ll find what does.
Kris T. Bethke--Author of M/M Romance 