I think you have plenty! It is a bit easier to write short stuff without any plotting though, as you’re unlikely to get lost within the thousands of words, forgetting if you’ve already said what you’re typing already… etc…

Yes, and quite often I don’t really find out who a character is until I’m halfway through the first draft.

That’s interesting, Jeanne. I often write chapters or scenes out of order but then get in a mess trying to work out if my character can possibly know what I think she knows already!

I know what you mean. All that having to go back to make sure everything is in line if you don’t plot. I had that particularly with A Single Step. Which took a lot of time.

That sounds very much like me, Wendy, so I’m glad it’s not just me! I think it’s caused by the fight between my analytical brain and creative brain. I want to write in as organised a way as I work, but once I start the creative side is unleashed and much like a kitten with a ball of wool, it messes everything up. I do like it when a particularly juicy plot twist reveals itself in the process though, so I shouldn’t complain.

Oh, it can be whatever you want it to be. But, because I don’t have the time to simply write a load of stuff purely for the sake of it, and end up ditching much of it later on, I gain a lot more by trying to so some plotting so that I, hopefully, end up with some sort of cohesive story at the end of it.