On plotters & pantsers and why the designation no longer matters by the second draft

I’ve had a writing epiphany and I think this one is a game changer.

Back in December, I started adapting my plays Polar Twilight and New Year’s Thieve as a MG novel. The first draft came very easily and it was pretty put together and I thought I’d be able to clean it up and shopit by the end of Spring. But as I started cleaning it up, something weird happened. A minor character went rouge and started taking over. This character appears in both plays but has the smallest role of the character...