Ask a Published Author: The Perks of Writing Spontaneously

Julia Crouch’s second NaNo-novel Cuckoo landed her a three-book deal. She spends her days writing at an untidy desk in a shed at the bottom of her garden in Brighton, with occasional changes of scene.

Sarah Duncan (right) has written five novels, the most recent being Kissing Mr. Wrong (shortlisted for the RNA Novel of the Year 2011). She has also taught creative writing at the Universities of Oxford and Bristol.

Do you find planning or pantsing (writing by the seat of your pants) more effective when it comes to writing? — Anonymous

Julia: Definitely pantsing. I planned Wrecked, the novel I am currently working on, and, while I have a lot less story editing to do now that I have finished draft zero (the draft no one but me sees), I really, really missed the spirit of discovery of the pantsing approach.

What do you do when something makes its way into the story completely by accident and then changes the entire novel? —ErinKenobi2893

Sarah: Shout yippee and hallelujah, then run with it. I don’t plan much beyond a few key plot turns, so something pitching up out of the blue is what I hope for! In my opinion, this is the best bit about writing a novel, and shows you have a fully functioning subconscious imagination.  The only time I’ve plotted in full, I was bored to tears with the story when I came to write it so tootled off and wrote something completely different.

Next week’s head counselor will be Ari Marmell, fantasy author of the Widdershins novels and campaign writer for role-playing games including Dungeons and Dragons.

Ask him your questions here!