This year’s Nano I took an old short story and decided to expand it. I’m also a pantser. The change to this attempt I actually have an outline – a plan.
The other change is the story took over. The characters – and a couple of new ones – decided their tale was going a different path. I have no idea how those lines were typed, I wasn’t thinking as they happened, just went with the moment. I was hanging on and trying to decipher what the plan was…I know the end result is the same, sort of.
At ten thousand words, way behind Nano’s goals, I stopped in order to take stock – to plot a little.
I’ll still let the story guide me – reveal itself to me, but from this point on I’ll have something written to keep track of their path.
The original idea is mine. The process is mine. The story and characters are driving.