"What if my characters want to do things  that  sabotage my plot?" That question will baffle outliners. "Your characters are just extensions of your own will," they'll say. "How can they 'want' anything that you don't want?" This misunderstanding stems from the technical differences between authors who construct meticulous outlines…

Working as a professional writer and editor these past years has not only taught me a lot about writing; it's shown me much that I didn't even suspect I didn't know. Since I always try to have one hand reaching down the ladder to help folks below me up while…

Writers come in two broad types: architects who draw up thorough plot outlines before they start writing, and gardeners, or discovery writers, who just dive in and play it by ear. Some writers are natural outliners. Others are natural gardeners. A common complaint of the latter is that they lose…