kerrsutherland:
I thought I'd finally be finished with a story I've been working on for a year now but No! the characters introduce a new plot point that has to be integrated thoroughly during edits. Errr!!!
I know the feeling. Pesky characters! Who do they think they are? You name them, give them -istics, speech, motives, and are they satisfied? Hell, no!
This, I suppose, is an argument for being an outliner - keep the buggers in their place.
Seegee:
depends on how you write, whether you're an outliner or a pantser
Thanks for introducing these terms, Seegee.
I started out a pantser (an apt word for TTWD), adjusting plots and characteristics in retrospect to accommodate the whims of my characters as they hijacked my imagination. Pantsing is such a buzz (
flying's the key word) that it can lead to a lengthy serial, although some outlining becomes unavoidable the further you go into multiple plots.