Critical Death Theory: first draft, 5,400 words
Part 3 first! Before we get to our adventures in the Shetlands, I have a book announcement. We have signed a contract for the sequel to A Quiet Teacher. I knew it was coming but it’s still a thrill to ink the deal. I’ve promised to deliver the manuscript by February of next year, so I’m assuming it will come out a few months after that. Of course, it’s July now so, in writing time, February is not so far away and I have only just started writing the story (I feel my agent, the estimable Brady, clutching his heart as he reads this). Fear not! As the story has been outlined to the nth degree, all I have to do is get it on the page. The hard part (plotting, clues, character development, etc.) has already been mapped out. All that remains is the fun bit: actual writing! Barring some massive geopolitical upheaval that screws around with my day job, I’m expecting pretty smooth sailing from here on in. Hopefully!
I have learned over time that my willingness to spend many, many weeks coming up with an outline identifies me as a particular “type.” In terms of how we go about putting words on a page, writers, I’ve discovered, are fond of dividing themselves into two camps: plotters and pantsers. Pantsers, according to this theory, write by the seat of their pants, throwing down words to see where it takes them, while plotters outline everything ahead of time, plotting each and every step from A to Z before writing a single word of manuscript. While most writers I’ve met so far identify as pantsers, I am very much at the opposite end of the spectrum. I like outlines. I like to know where I’m going. The thing I hate most about writing is “wasting” days of writing time wrestling with a plot problem I should have thought about earlier. When I’m writing I like to write!
Even by my standards, though, the outline for the AQT sequel is obsessive. It’s the most detailed outline I’ve ever written. There are two reasons for that. First, as this is a whodunnit, the clues have to fit exactly. I don’t have anywhere near as much room to maneuver as I would in a sci-fi novel. In a whodunnit, you can’t fly too far from your clues. Second, the outline is more detailed than for AQT because in this one there are not one but two murders. Double the clue plotting!
Now, having said all that, I don’t really buy into the plotters versus pantsers thing. Both are really doing the same thing, just framing it differently. A pantser’s first draft is basically just a very long outline: it bears little relationship to the final product. There are massive and multiple rewrites before the author is ready to show the fruits of their labors. An outline, conversely, is just a very short first draft. There’s a huge amount of writing still to be done before the completed manuscript is ready for the light of day. Either way, you end up with a book. And in reality, all writers plot and write by the seat of their pants. Otherwise, their books would either make no sense or lack any sense of inspiration. My personal view is that it comes down to how lazy you are. I am very lazy. The thought of writing tens of thousands of words just to get at the outline of a story brings me out in hives. The physical effort outweighs the joy of the writing. If you’re not lazy, on the other hand, why would you deprive yourself of a writing adventure just to save yourself a few keystrokes? Forget plotters and pantsers. You’re either lazy, or you’re not.
Back to the AQT sequel. I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a while. I’m going to share the title! Critical Death Theory. As regular readers of this blog will know, no one, and I mean no one, likes my titles. They always get changed, the new titles are always better, and so I generally don’t feel the need to embarrass myself further by exposing the original moniker to public ridicule. This time, though, when I suggested it, neither the redoubtable Brady, nor his assistant James, nor Editor Rachel at Severn House shot it down. Who knows? It might even make it to publication.
As for E________, I’m still waiting for the axe to fall on that one. Or is it going to be two in a row?