Blog by VONNIE DAVIS -- International, Award-Winning Romance Author: Adventurous...Humorous...Amorous.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

I'm a Pantser Whose Pants are Too Baggy

I've never made any secret out of being a pantser. I don't outline; it takes too much time. I don't do character analysis, but I did buy the book to tell me how to pair one type of personality with his or her opposite. Nor do I lay out conflict, chapter by chapter. But I do design my characters from the inside out, deciding on his or her points of pain and develop the character from those scars. 

Scars--internal or external--determine how we act and react to most situations. 

Knowing my heroine and hero's scars and sometimes their names, I type Chapter One and forge ahead. That's not to say the brakes don't screech on page four or five, they do--and have. Nor do I mean to give the impression I'm typing into a void of having no idea where the story's going. I usually have a scene in mind...I just have no clue when it'll happen. Sometimes I can even envision the ending...once more, with no clue how to get there. I guess one could call me a clueless writer. 

I'm currently writing book two of my Scottish Highlander Beloved series,  A HIGHLANDER'S PASSION. Book one releases on August 19th by Loveswept Random House and is called A HIGHLANDER'S OBSESSION.
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But book two has my pants in a bit of a twist. My contract states the book must be a minimum of 80,000 words. For me, that's no problem. As a pantser, I've got so many ideas shoved into my pants that they've stretched quite large even for an "extra fluffy" person like me. If I use every idea crammed into those bloomers, we're talking about an epic novel here. I don't think my editor will be pleased. 

So, how to chose, because I'm telling you my pants are stretched to the limit--even for me. The waist and hips are so baggy, I can barely keep them up. Some of my ideas are a little wild, perhaps too violent, even for a paranormal romance. A few are too hawt, even for Bryce, my hunky, passionate Scot. One or two might be just plain unbelievable, even with my wonky brain. So, I ask, how do I pick and chose? How does a pantser make sense out of a big pair of bloomers full of too many ideas?

6 comments:

Liz Flaherty said...

You had me till you got to the "making sense" part. I have no idea. No idea at all. :-) Good post, Vonnie.

Angela Adams said...

Love the post...and that book cover!

Calisa Rhose said...

You and I write so similarly that I can't offer any help. I will just see what comes up. :)

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Yeah, Liz, that's the part that gets me...making sense.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

I love the book cover, too, Angela.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Calisa, we'll have to wait and see together. I'm making little changes and moving parts of chapters and pulling out my hair.