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2024 WRITEMAS 03 - “Tell me everything.”

With a bulb suspended as a life on the line, the concrete confinement of the cop’s cold carousel was a twisting, turning, melancholy enclosure for not just for not just the man’s hands, but his humanity nevermore. As bolted shackles took his arms as the bulb choked in unease, the door was promptly shut, thereby declaring the room an echo chamber of imbalance of power.

The man darts his eyes, pondering the devloution from man to mastiff. Pushed forward behind the low-sitting desk, engrained with the fears and tears of those before him, he points his head upwards at the elephant in the room.

“Tell me everything,” the cop impears, casting an undoubtable suspicion of cause on the person before him. “Everything you know of the death of Miss Egholm.”

The man stutters, and diverts his focus on the distance flash of the light up above. A parallel to the sun the man once loved, he wonders if this devolution of nature is coincided by the overseers’ evolution into unethical, gaseous beings, with supernatural powers to stun and suspect at an arm’s reach. He feels the cop before him’s metaphysical choke, as the bulb flickers evermore.

That lonesome Thursday night, the last he had spent on reprieve’s edge, before crossing back into the very world he’d daydream he could escape; the near-spontaneous manslaughter of his own neighbor he respected and acquainted. One week ago, he encountered the scene that spelled lights out for her. Sick to his stomach, he places his reason on his own fate as well.

The cop sits down, and gives him a glare of timeless indifference. The room he sits within is overcast by the sins within, as the sun from above gives its last few breaths.

This lonesome Monday night, he’s found for a crime; a crime of ruthlessness, restlessness and a jarring hue of miscommunication.

With his heartbeat in his throat, he pleads his innocence.

The bulb burns out.

[1/∞]

"She pulls right up to my ear and says: whatever you do, don't turn around"

The ghosty voice came along with the icy shiver of the wind behind him. The street was filled with shadows, as if even the moon was scared and used the clouds as a shield. With a deep sigh, he took the advice that was given to him and walk without looking over his shoulder.

MY PLANTSING WAYS As you may know, I am a neither a full planner nor a full panster when it comes to drafting and writing in general. I need some kind of outline, however slim it may be, to be able to guide me through the story, though I don't plan in detail, and I do generally end up pantsing a lot of the drafting itself. I thought that today I would give you some idea of what it's like for me as a planster, and how I work, and why I work the way I do. I know there has been a lot of talk in the writing community about being either one or the other, but to be honest I think most people are a mixture of the two. While there are some rare unicorns who are full on one or the other, the majority of writers have some element of each to their process. So I'm going to break it down into the two categories: what I plan, and what I pants, and give you some details on each along the way! WHAT I PLAN -> I don't generally focus on word count, but do a chapter a day, and because of this, I need to know what happens in each chapter so that I don't have to worry too much about what I'm going to write. This stops me from getting writer's block and it also allows me to explore the story in my own way. Before I start writing, I will write out a chapter plan, with bullet points for each chapter and what I want to happen in it. Usually this is a sentence at most, but sometimes it ends up a little lengthier. -> I plan my characters to a point. I make sure that I have their name, age, description and such, as well as any points that really stick out to me during the planning phase. Sometimes they spring fully formed in my mind, other times they end up a little distant and that's something that I need to work out more during drafting. -> I plan my revisions, when I finish drafting, I will read through the book, a few months later, and make a detailed outline of what's happening when. This allows me to catch any errors and any plot holes, so that I can make the changes as I revise. It can take me up to three read throughs to get everything I need though. WHAT I PANTS -> While I will always have some idea from the chapter plan, there will be times during the drafting process where I go off plan, exploring a plot point that I've discovered along the way. This can lead to problems in the revision stage which is why I do the outlining then, so that I've made sure that I've tied up all the loose threads that I left while drafting. -> I plan the main characters, but sometimes, like I said above, they don't really show themselves to me until I'm in the thick of drafting, and that's when the nuances and quirks of their personality will come through. I work out what kind of person they are, what they want, what their goal is, and all of that during the drafting phase. This can lead to issues where the first few chapters of the book don't match the rest, but I also edit as I go, so those are usually caught by then. -> I pants the subplots. While I will, sometimes, have thought of them in advance, other times it's more important to me to find them along the way. Yes, this might lead to them being a little rushed or the like, but that's why I do the detailed outline when revising. So there we go, those are my ways of planning and pantsing when it comes to drafting and revising a novel. By the time the book gets to the editing stage, I'm pretty solid in the story, and where it's going, as well as the characters, so it's easier to make changes based on that. Any questions? Lemme know in the comments!

too busy thinking about you

it doesn’t matter if I’m asleep or awake

you always find a way to get right in there

“are you ever going to finish ______?”

“what happened to ______?