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Saturday, September 20 2025

Our September Blog Hop asks the question: Do you plot out your story before you begin, or do your characters drive your plot?

When cornered on the subject, I have to admit that my preferred method of writing is as a “Pantser.” Meaning, if you haven’t heard the word before, that I write by the seat of my pants. It’s not quite as straightforward as just sitting down with a blank page in front of me and a vague idea of what my story is about, then starting to type, though. There is research for any book, historical or otherwise. And then there are my characters who DO drive the plot.

I do start with a basic plot idea, sometimes even with a few side stories in mind, and I always, ALWAYS know where my story will end up. But first, I create my cast of characters. My main character(s) get detailed dossiers created, sometimes outlining their entire life from kindergarten to the time this story starts. This dossier can be anything from 2 to 8 pages of single-spaced writing. As if I were telling someone their life story. And I know these characters as well as I know my brother or my cousins. When I know my characters this well, I don’t have to ponder how they will react when I plop them into the action. Their actions and reactions will be consistent with who they are and the story, thus the plot, flows from there. My supporting cast gets outlined as well, the details depending on how important they are to the story and the main characters. For instance, Grandpa might even be deceased, but if his influence was a major formative for my main character, then I need to know Grandpa pretty well, too. If the waitress at the local diner knows everyone in town, her dossier might be fairly detailed, but if she’s just the woman who shows up with the regular patron’s usual breakfast and coffee, then I don’t need to know much about her.

Sometimes one or more of my characters will reflect parts of people I know. In Worry Stone and The Candidate, both my main characters (the heroes of the two books) were soldiers who came of age at the same time I did, in the late 60s and at one level or another, served in the unpopular war waged in Vietnam during those years. Some of what happens in the books reflects what I knew and experienced (not as a soldier, but as a civilian) and some of what drives these two characters is based on things my brother shared with me about his service, his friendships with the Vietnamese people he met while there, and his experiences on coming home. Because of how Matt Steele (The Candidate) and “Cam” Cameron (Worry Stone) were created using real experiences, I had to write those stories with an eye to the actual history of the time. Worry Stone was originally pitched to an editor at a conference who “loved” the premise but not the war and wanted me to change the war to a more recent one. I pointed out that we have not treated our returning soldiers like pariahs in all the wars since Vietnam (or prior to it for that matter) so it would be impossible for me to change the war to fit in with her negative view of our involvement in Vietnam without changing the entire story.

Most of my characters have not been created with real people in mind so I’ve had more freedom to alter their backstory to fit the plots. But I still pay close attention to the history of the time if it’s set in the past, or the realities of today if it’s current. For instance, if my story was about a married couple who were always at odds and fighting over every detail of their lives – it would depend on WHEN they were living this life. In today’s world of easy acceptance to the idea of divorce their actions and the plot of the story might be very different than a story set 200 years ago when divorce was almost never considered.

So, yes, for the most part, my novels and their plots are driven by the characters I’ve created to people them. With one BIG exception. I enjoy reading mysteries and law enforcement procedurals so I decided to try writing them. Since I am not in law enforcement, nor do I know anyone really well who is, I took the Citizens Law enforcement Academy course and did a few ride-alongs, met the deputies, dispatchers, dogs and others who keep the local sheriff’s office manned and running. Like all my previous books, I’d created detailed characters and I knew exactly where the story would end, but there is where things went down a different road. It was a struggle for a pantser to discover I needed to carefully plot these novels out. It wasn’t enough to know where the story would end. I needed to leave red herrings. I needed to hint at things so the real evidence wouldn’t slap my reader in the back of their heads like Gibbs tends to do on NCIS. All the evidence had to make sense when the final curtain came down. I still have book three in that series partly written, but plotting as such a slog, I got sidetracked with another series that I can write the way I am more comfortable with.

Now it’s time to hop on over and see how other members of this Blog Hop write their stories

Posted by: Skye Taylor AT 12:01 am | Permalink | 6 Comments | Email

Comments:

Fascinating! The bit about knowing characters so well that you know how they'll react rings true all right. I write interconnected series, so when (say) the story of Pen Swan's widowhood and romance is finished, she shows up in her bridesmaid Flori's story as the bride, and again as the wife of a character who does a job for Promise Grene in her story and yet again as the daughter-in-law at the manse when Yvanne Skipton comes to be married. Pen is consistent, because I know her well. It was interesting to see your problem as a pantser when you had to lay in red herrings!

Posted by Sally Odgers on 09/19/2025 - 05:49 PM

Skye, I am amazed at all the preparatory work you put into your characters. Wonderful. I learn about them in the way I learn about a new acquaintance as the story progresses. In some of my stories, I write the ending first -- but often it surprises me!

Posted by Bob Rich on 09/20/2025 - 12:47 AM

Skye such deep dive in development of your character on all levels is impressive. As always I look forward to your monthly post :)

Posted by Connie Vines on 09/20/2025 - 04:20 PM

Hi Skye, I find how you get to know your characters, and the research you do, really interesting. I have a strong idea of what drives my main characters at the start, but like Bob, I tend to get to know them in detail - how they speak, etc. - as I get the story down. My novels are also character driven. Like you, I found it a very different way of planning when I wrote a romantic suspense. Thanks for organising another interesting Round Robin!

Posted by Helena Fairfax on 09/21/2025 - 07:24 AM

Hi Skye, yes, I'd love to write a cozy crime but all that plotting gets in the way. I need to hear the characters' voices. Once they're talking in a way that means I can recognise them without seeing X said, then I'm sorted. I realised very early that when my character didn't want to do something in the story then the plot was being imposed. Result - character led fiction. Anne Stenhouse

Posted by anne stenhouse on 09/21/2025 - 11:38 AM

I like the idea of the Citizens Law Enforcement course, but because my mystery series is set in the UK, wouldn't necessarily work for me. I had little to do with the police when I did live there. My youngest son and his shennanigans most brought them into my view! Now I rely on a FB friend who was in the police force to put me right. Question; is it possible to write a book without doing research?

Posted by Victoria Chatham on 09/23/2025 - 02:33 PM