Why Plot When You Can Pants?

Flying by the seat of one's pants can be scary.

PANTSED!    sorry, could not resist this one!

You would never consider going into a big meeting unprepared.  If you were asked to speak at a convention you wouldn't just wing it.  Calendar planning for many of us is crucial--if I just said "well, whatever happens today happens" and scheduling be damned nothing would ever get done.  People who run successful businesses, no matter how hip the environment, would not succeed without advance planning for all aspects of whatever it is they make/sell/service.

But when it comes to writing fiction, most of us just let it happen, without a ton of forethought, outlining, or other pre-meditation.

I used to brag that I was the Panster Queen.  I came up with the entire concept of The Tap Room, my Choose your Romance novel due out September 30 on a plane to Denver, opened up my laptop and just let it pour forth.  Granted, it was a serialized story on this very blog for a while until my publisher said, "Um, yeah, I want that, take it down."  I still like to think that the very best stories come to you fully formed, ready to simply be dictated from brain to paper (or in my case:  computer screen).

Lately, though as my back list grows and demands on my time increase from my (successfully and very meticulously planned) microbrewery I've become a bit of a hybrid when it comes to new stories.

I have a short story as part of the Decadent Publishing OneNightStand series:  Caught Offside.  The entire plot was hatched in my head while I watched the last Harry Potter movie.  Seriously.  I wrote it in two days with very little alterations from what I dreamed up watching Voldemort go down.

I'm working on a new one for this same series, Spice Bazaar, that appeared to me while dog walking (my muses...Layla and Roxie) BUT I am finding myself having to go about it differently.  I don't know if it's because I have so many projects going on at once between major edits for a major submission next week plus all the blog posting I've agreed to to promote The Tap Room plus gearing up for The Big Season around here:  football and beer and my Tap Room's first fall open for business, BUT....I caught myself OUTLINING the steps to the One Night Stand!  Ack!  And I wrote out character sketches BEFORE I actually started the story.

Dear Lord, I've lost my pantser mojo.....sigh....

For today, I leave you with some cover yummies for my new novel with Rebel Ink Press, coming out Oct. 3!

Oh, and be sure and check my shiny new website!
www.lizcrowe.com

cheers and happy plotting!
Liz