Everything I’ve ever read about writing a murder mystery involved detailed outlines and in-depth planning of characters and their motives. Every piece of writing advice was the same.
But I’m best when I’m writing without a net.
I’m aware, as the story rolls along, that I’m leaving breadcrumbs for the reader and for myself, too. My breadcrumbs are minor detours that somewhere along the line will come back to haunt me and wind up becoming a significant plot twist. The weird thing is that I don’t know when those snippets of story direction will rise and stir the pot or steer the plot. They just bubble to the surface and say, “Hey, way back in the beginning of this 200+ page manuscript-in-progress, you dropped a little hint that wants to take over the story RIGHT NOW.
That can’t happen when I try to plot & plan & outline & character build… I find I work best when I just jump in and WRITE. Then, I get to see what happens. I’ve described it as pulling on threads that are left hanging. It can be as simple as the mention in passing of a historical event, an item left on a desk by a character, something unusual about a place, or anything else that appears to be ‘background color’ but can be pulled out later—like pulling a thread through a piece of fabric—until that thread becomes an essential piece of the story.
How does all of this knit together? That’s what second drafts are for!
