As a pantser I am aware that some ideas blast off and soar, while others lie flaccid, wriggling helplessly until they at last mercifully surrender and die.
I only ever start my works with a vague idea. For Find My Way Home it was man landing on the moon. For reasons unknown, that story blossomed and flourished. For New Kaitlyn it was a woman establishing a remote office branch in a rural town. That was it. That was the idea. And New Kaitlyn may be the work I'm most proud of.
But I'm not sure where I am now. My latest vague idea is, a band singer falls on hard times when her bookings dry up. And she finally gives up the dream and takes to the highway. I've spent pages detailing her band's humiliations and her self-doubts before I even put her on the road to a new redemption.
I don't know where the story is going, if anywhere, but I'm not a quitter. I want to take the tale where it'll lead. Quicksilver just might smack me in the face. If I stop now I'll never know.
I may have overextended myself. I might have become over-confident after penning two ascendant novellas.
If you're a pantser like me, you understand my doubts. And if you are a pantser, I'm hungry for your tips. Slip them into my comments section and I'll repay you somehow.
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