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Having just read a couple of excellent ‘craft� books, I’d like to talk a little bit about the art of outlining a novel and what makes a good story a good story.

In writing circles, you tend to be either a ‘plotter� or a ‘pantser� (as in ‘fly by the seat of your pants�). I’ve always inclined towards the first, but I’m not one of those writers who write novel-length outlines before they even start their book. This is my usual method of working:

� have the idea, usually from a case/happening in real life

� work out the twist

� work backwards from the twist in terms of plot

� vaguely plot some sort of scene order

� start writing

I’m not saying that this is a bad way of working � in fact, I’m saying the opposite because it’s allowed me to write twelve novels and novellas that (I might modestly claim) have been fairly well received. But, as a mother of young children, I never have have quite enough time to write as I would like in order to keep to my publishing schedule, so I was keen to see if I could improve my outlining and my books.

Someone recommended Libby Hawker’s Take Off Your Pants! Outline Your Books For Better, Faster Writing and what a revelation it was. If you want to know how to outline a satisfying story with a clearly defined character arc, bringing in theme and pacing and plot, then this is the (very reasonably priced) book for you. After reading it thoroughly and making copious notes, I’ve now got Creed, the 7th Kate Redman Mystery, plotted out in its entirety and I think it’ll be good � very good, I hope! I’ll be very interested to see if it helps me to write faster. On a good day, I can do 3000 words, so anything that helps me push that figure higher (without sacrificing quality) will be welcome. I’ll report back!