The perfect system for planning, researching, plotting and writing a crime novel

All
writers have different ways of working and finding the ‘perfect system’
for planning, researching, plotting, structuring and writing a novel is
often a matter of trial and error until something clicks. That’s how it
was for me anyway.

Before I struck on my 'perfect system' I tried all sorts of ways of
compiling my research, plot lines, and character outlines, from using
note books to wall maps, from card indexes to ring binders. None of them
worked. The ring binders looked nice and neat, all properly indexed,
but because of my civil service training my mind told me that something
in a file, was 'filed away,' and therefore actioned, finished with and a
novel is a work in progress.




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