[BookCat]

I would suggest that some of the writers commenting on this subject try doing NaNo next year, using the method of switching off the inner editor. A first draft is just that. It's not perfection and can be as awful as the author wants. Many NaNo writers use it as a vehicle for discovering the plot as they go along. At the end of the writing, there is something to work with, edit and craft into a novel in which, for example, the clues are placed along the way and characters are consistent (or develop).

I like to map out plot points, which sometimes develop into an outline (in Word's outline view). This changes as the writing progresses and I decide to move scenes, perhaps to generate more tension or because of the logic of the plot's movement.

Each writer finds a different way to write. If you're a dedicated outliner, try pantsing, you may prefer the process and result.

Oh, and just a little question for WW, requiring a one word answer, not a diatribe: do you write short stories, novels, plays, poetry, or are you just a critic? You have every right to be the latter, but I would like to know which position you're coming from.

Me? I'm a writer of novels, short stories, poetry, and according to one of my friends, lists.