Flexibility and Plotting

We woke up to a blanket of First Snow on Sunday morning. Before it stopped, we had about 7 1/2 inches. Golf courses will be packed tomorrow, and our temperatures will hit the mid-seventies by Wednesday. In the Colorado Rockies, spring teases us into summer, and fall teases us into winter.

You learn to be flexible.

As a reader, I'm flexible enough to read other genres--and enjoy them--but I tend to gravitate to suspense. Nothin' wrong with that. On the downside, I'm kind of a fickle fan. If an author disappoints me, it's hard to pick up another of their books--regardless of how many I've enjoyed in the past. KSF. (Kinda Sorta Flexible).

A new author, in any genre, is often one a friend has recommended. Even better is when I find an author new to me because of a review I agreed to write. I feel like I've mined a golden nugget. Flexibility. And let's face it, we can read a lot faster than our favorite authors can write. Flexibility means always having something in your TBR (To Be Read) pile. My private stash. {sigh}

But what about as a suspense novelist?

Do you stick to the plan or let the story take you somewhere different? How flexible are you? What about if it means trashing a lot of what you've written?

I confess--initially I go back to the KSF mode. I try to think of a way to keep at least some of what I have and incorporate the new direction.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Flexibility.

Suspense novelists need to plot--at least a little bit. You need to have a strong sense of the elements of your story, the plots points, and the ending. Some novelists plot in great detail (I think they would make fine engineers), and some not at all. (We'll talk more about the different "styles" of plotting later.)

But, once again--suspense novelists need to plot--at least a little bit. Colleen Coble plots three or four chapters ahead. She has the basics of her story in mind, but plotting more than that would ruin the fun.

Flexibility.

It's all better with friends.