Jumping into the life of a novel writer, I’ve discovered there are generally two main approaches to the task. This is where the terms “Plotter” and “Pantser” come into play. However, if you’re like me, you fall in between these two camps. Yes, that means you’re a “Plantser”. Below, I explain, via doodles, the most popular paths used in creative writing journeys.

Have you got a fantastic idea burning a hole in your head so intensely you dive right into writing? You may be a “Pantser” or someone who “flies by the seat of their pants”. A Pantser is open to an organic unfolding of their story from their original idea; they let the characters drive the direction of the story. It’s an approach that is wide-open to truly creative storytelling. On the con side, the Pantser can sometimes have trouble concluding the story or produce a plot-hole ridden story that without some serious editing may find themselves in world of confusion. Still, they do get down to writing right away.

You can also be a combination of the previous two methods. Yes, you can be a “Plantser”! I’ll admit that’s the category I find myself falling into. When I first started writing my novel, (set in late 19th century England), I didn’t do a lot of research. I just began writing. Due to an abundance of personal reading, I had enough familiarity with the period to begin writing without spending time researching. Checking on the historical accuracy came with the follow-up edits. Editing I’ll talk about in a whole other post. If you’re a writer or aspiring writer, what description do you think comes closest to you? As an aside: Don’t worry if you don’t think you fall into any of these categories. They are generalities after all.

I’ve found YouTube to be a great resource for beginning writers and where I first heard of the terms above. Whether you’re looking to publish traditionally or feel self-publishing is for you, these are some of my favourite Writers online today:

Jenna Moreci: funny and chock full of advice, she’s found at:https://www.youtube.com/c/JennaMoreci

Meg Latorre: Great advice with a background as a literary agent, she’s found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKeBsBrWDtIBrnrCkxHo5MQ

Bethany Atazedah: consistently, detailed advice that can be eye-opening. She’s found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPCRTrY4fiQXF9JXdNtr7rw

Mandi Lynn: lots of great advice and admirable business acumen. She can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY5S1UKi_vbqDLHSReCSWqw

Derek Murphy: great writing business advice for free and for a fee but it’s all good. He can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn6njwgR9SqJ8d-5R0teEFA

Of course, there’s tons more to be found. It’s wonderful to know that for the modern writer there are innumerable sources of help available at your fingertips. It’ll help you discover more than if your a “Plotter” or a “Pantser”.

Way back in 2019, I went through a “dry” period. I struggled to do more than doodles at times and was feeling disenchanted with the visual art world. To get past that I decided to try expanding my skills in a different direction. To be accurate, I’ve always been a writer but is was secondary and supportive to my illustrative pursuits. However, at that time I thought putting the focus on writing a novel might help me get around my artistic block. And I had an idea. A good idea, so how hard could it be. (Insert your laughter here.)

Knowing myself, I went looking for a notebook that would help support my goal. I found the NotePro Notebook from Blueline at the local Staple Business Depot. Now, I could have simply loaded up on notebooks found at the Dollar Store. The NotePros weren’t the cheapest thing out there but they had several of the characteristics that I liked.

They come with hard, supportive covers.

And a spiral spine that lets the book lay out nice and flat while you’re writing.

I also decided to stick with the convenience of writing the story long-hand. That’s right. I was going to write the whole story by hand and make it extra pretty by using coloured-ink pens…because, you know…. In any case, not relying on having the computer fired-up allowed me to write whenever the inspiration struck.

I went through a LOT of different colours and seven and a half NotePros. Writing in cursive after years of simply typing was a reminder of times past.

Here’s an example of a Character Sheet set up to keep track of the characteristics of the large cast. Though I confess, I haven’t stuck with them.

In addition to the hard cover and spiral spine, NotePro came with some extra little perks I liked. A set of plastic pockets for keeping loose notes and my ruler/bookmark that came in handy at times. Also, some labels and divider stickers that I also liked to use. Considering how many of the notebooks I used the labels were a little nicer than just slapping on a piece of masking tape.

You might think from this write-up that I’m affiliate for Blueline but I’m not. I just truly liked there NotePro Notebooks. Knowing myself and my desire to write my story, I knew by setting myself up with the tools that would make it easiest to continue would best ensure that I followed through with my goal. If you’re like me, sometimes you can get distracted by little things like a floppy notebook that makes it a pain when you’re trying to write while sitting on the couch or on your back deck. Not an issue with these items. However, if there too expensive (I thought I had saved the price tag but seem to recall they were over $5/per) and you don’t care about the surface you’re scratching out your Magnum Opus on, hit that Dollar store for materials. It’s all good. For subsequent drafts, I did graduate to my laptop but for myself, starting this way really helped to get the ball rolling. Also, simply allowing myself to write the story without a hard and fast agenda for it relieved me of a lot of pressure. The goal was simply finishing the story. So, what are some of things you do to encourage yourself in a particular task or goal? I’m not just talking about writing either.

Presently, I’m taking things further and you can look here for more news on my “Writer’s Journey”. The possibilities for new authors these days are astounding. I look forward to sharing those stories with you. Also, don’t think I’ve given up on illustration. I’ll still be producing original art for our Redbubble Shop, the Gallery and beyond.

Well, I didn’t expect to be here at this time. It sometimes seems as though 2021 is trying to live up to 2020’s legacy for crappiness. Not to be too negative or anything but one’s web site going Ka-Blooey is not something we were wanting to deal with at this time. Admittedly, an overhaul of the site was on the schedule but like a month from now. However, Fate had other plans and here we are. We hope you like the new look. We’ll continue to tweak and change things as we go from here.

One thing that I’ll grant to the pandemic lockdown is that it enabled me to finish my second novel, start seriously editing the first while outlining and beginning the first draft of the third. It’s a series that is shaping up to be four books in all and I’ll be previewing parts of it here as I go along on this journey. So, stay tuned for that. As a teaser, it’s a Victorian gothic, supernatural thriller with a strong romance to it.

There will of course be monsters in it, ’cause I love me some monsters. It’s a prose novel but I’m thinking of including some illustrations as well. At the very least you’ll be seeing some character art here when the time comes. So that’s in the works for me right now. Our other cool products will continue to be on offer. We’re adding more for YOUR enjoyment. It’s kind of like a public service we’re offering, if you think about it.