What we love about imagination is that it has infinite possibilities. In our heads, anything can happen. As I begin my fourth novel, I’ve decided that this thing we love is what causes most novels to never be completed.
With so many choices available, it is easy to become permanently paralyzed. If anything and everything can happen, ironically, nothing happens.
This is where most writers begin the plotter vs. pantser argument. The plotters claim outlining is the cure for indecisiveness. The pantsers fear an outline will chain them to a plot that may not stand up to changing characters.
As for me, I’m a mix of both. I won’t begin a novel if I don’t have at least a vague story or a theme. To complete a full outline would be impossible for me, though. Characters drive what I write. I won’t know the ending until I get there.
This makes the beginning phase of novel-writing precarious. My characters won’t be full-fledged, authentic people until the 2nd draft.
Knowing that the first draft will be discarded, for most of us who want to eventually arrive with a product in hand, makes writing the first draft a test we have to be willing to fail. Writing is a long process with no guarantees.
Meanwhile, I’m floating in clouds while I’m forming objects and life from them. It could be anything. It could be nothing.
