Following some final tweaks to the outline and synopsis during the holidays, began writing The Cropsey Effect this morning. It’s the second book in the Mike Brody series. After spending a solid year of writing The Last Track before falling into the story–entirely by accident–this time around I opted to tackle such considerations earlier. My apologies to everyone who got drafted into off-line discussions these past few weeks.

Writers have long argued over how much preparation is necessary before starting a novel. For instance, Ray Bradbury skips pre-production completely, arguing that “plot is the footprints left in the snow.” Write it first and then worry about getting it right later.

At the other extreme, John Grisham works everything out point by point on legal pads, months before writing word one. Make your mistakes on the legal pad, rather than the page. Why torture the reader as the writer stumbles his way through a murky plot, his thinking goes.

Both strategies have their merits. Certainly I respect Ray Bradbury. His collection of work is vast and in many ways without equal. He has written several classics, one of which will be taught in schools hopefully in perpetuity.

John Grisham approaches a project like a lawyer preparing for trial. Those battles are won or lost eons before the bailiff calls everyone to order. Since there is nothing a lawyer hates more than a surprise in the courtroom, he puts a tremendous energy into the advance preparations.

Regardless of the model, each author rules at their respective genre.

That being said, there’s serious sense of relief in having the critical plot points out in the open now. Because the who and what’s going to happen is settled, my energy can focus on how to get where the characters want and need to go. And in their journey, they just might detour from the path I forecast. Which is an unintended bonus to the outline process.

Because giving the characters enough space to run with their own script is where the best stuff comes from.