Confessions of a (soon to be) Reformed Pantser

Hello, SEers! Mae here today with an overdue confession. Perhaps I should explain how it came about…

Even writers who carefully plot, plan, and meticulously outline their novels have the unexpected happen. For authors who routinely pants their books, it’s common to have twists pop out of the blue. But what about characters? I’ve found that when a character appears unexpectedly,  an earthquake usually occurs with fault lines splintering everywhere.

As an example, while working on my last novel, End of Day, this popped from the keyboard:

Jillian had no intention of taking him fishing, or of getting involved and becoming friends with his mother. Getting involved was how people got hurt. How Madison ended up with a shattered mind and a life spent staring at four walls.

Huh.

Who knew Madison had a shattered mind and spent life staring at four walls? Certainly, not the author (a favorite phrase…