Eileen Goudge

New York Times - BestSelling Author

Plotter or Pantser?

I’m somewhere in the middle between plotter and pantser. Before I sit down to write a novel, I always have an idea of where I’m going with it. Sometimes it’s a scene I can see unfolding in my mind. Other times it’s a character that jumps into my head fully formed. By the time I’ve written the first chapter, I know how the book will end. What I don’t always know is the bits in the middle. I’m talking about the subplots and plot twists, subsidiary characters and such. As I write, it’s like whacking at a pinata. You don’t know what will spill out when it breaks open.

In the novel I’m currently writing, the first in a planned series, the idea popped into my head with the opening scene. It’s about a woman on the run from her abusive husband who rescues a dog she sees being abused. They become partners in crime, so to speak. She names him Butch after Butch Cassidy. They set out for California where she plans to get a fresh start. I know how the book ends and I’ve written roughly half of it, so my female protagonist’s love interest and the cast of subsidiary characters are established. I’m not working from an outline, however, so there have been surprising plot twists and elements along the way I didn’t see coming, with more to come no doubt. It makes the writing game more interesting, but I always have watched my step so I don’t get mired in a soggy plot. It helps to have a critique partner. I’d be lost without mine, the amazing Donna Ball (who has a new book out, by the way, which is a real page-turner. The first in her new mystery series, set in the South, titled UNFIXABLE).

With my first novel, I had only the concept before I sat down to write it: babies switched at birth. The idea for the switch to occur during a hospital fire, and have one of the new moms die in the fire and the other knowingly make the switch, came afterward. It’s fair to say GARDEN OF LIES was born by fire! I must have done something right because it went on to become a New York Times bestseller.

Often I’m asked by aspiring writers whether I advise plotting over pantsing. The answer is “yes.” When you’re first starting out it’s easy to become lost in a foggy plot. My ability to plot in my head came with time and experience. Having written 20 women’s fiction novels and over 30 young adult novels, I usually have a sense of where I’m going when I set out to write a novel. The three basic elements are a beginning, middle, and end.

Where the magic happens is in filling in the blanks.

Where will my “Butch” and “Sundance Kid” take me? I don’t always know but I’m enjoying the ride.

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Comments

  1. Oh I am delighted that you are actually writing a new book!! I have read most of your previous books, and confess to being an enormous fan!! I need to find a complete list, and see if I have missed any… I got hooked many years ago, after reading “Garden of Lies”. Your books are NEVER disappointing! Thank you so much for your wonderful gift of talent.

  2. I love that you are writing a new book . I read at least 3 books a week and am always glad when one of my favorite authors have a new one on the horizon. Thanks for keeping me happy never more so than when I have a new book to look forward to

  3. Sounds like I’m in good company, I pants and plot. I learned with my first novel that mysteries can be too complex to completely go by the seat of my pants. I lost track of things somewhere in the middle. Now I rough out a chapter by chapter synopsis before I get started. Of course after the first few chapters, the characters begin writing in some surprises, so adjustments happen along the way. That’s the fun part.Just like real friends, I get to know them better as I write.

  4. I am waiting for your next book. I have read all your books from the first book book you wrote. I love all of your books. Keep up the great job………