Among writers there is a friendly debate about whether you’re a pantser or a planner.
Pansters say they write “from the seat of their pants.” When they sit down at the keyboard, they don’t know what they’re going to say until they actually start.
Planners, on the other hand, have detailed chapter outlines, lots of character backgrounds, and extensive plot notes to draw from.
I used to think of myself as a hybrid, about half-and-half pantser/planner.
However, as the various plot lines of the Ro Delahanty series unfold – I am now editing “Revelations,” book six, and writing book seven, “Mourning Dove” – I find I am moving more and more into the planner mode.
For instance, I used to do “chapter outlines” of one or two sentences; now I have multiple pages of notes on what each chapter will cover.
And I don’t know what I’d do without my month-to-month calendar that includes the dates of chapters so far written, and prospective dates for future plot developments.