A Journey in Storytelling
Or, how I went from scrappy pantser to devoted plotter
I’m currently thinking about my next book, not least because I need something to take my mind off the fact that querying sucks and I had a fairly dismissive rejection for The Matchmakers this past week.
It was one of those rejections you get quickly after notifying an agent that you’ve had some full requests, and those, I think, are some of the worst. Because those are the ones you know you wouldn’t have heard from at all if you hadn’t nudged.
Obviously, no rejection is nice, but it’s the non-replies that disappoint me the most. A no I can work with, but it’s the sliding scale of slowly diminishing hope that will kill you with the radio silence. I am, after all, only human.
Anyway, not mentioning any names, but this was one pretty dismissive, and the Shiver of Shame (you know, that wave of undiluted disappointment that soaks all the way from your head to your toes as you read the email) was strong. Sort of like Cinderella’s dress transformation, but in reverse.
Can’t believe such a perfect video exists, to be honest.
It also physically hurt because, two weeks post op, I am still sore AF. A full body wave of shiver over boobs that feel sunburnt on the inside really sucks, to be honest, and coupled with that feeling of self doubt really made me want to go back to bed.
I didn’t, though. Instead, I got to plotting.
So I thought a post about my book writing process might be fun, because it’s changed substantially from when I began:
I started writing Call Me Maybe in its first guise back in 2013. Christ! And it was something I’d thought about for a while. Something I focused on when I was trying to fall asleep at night. And I initially planned to make it a bonkbuster. I always imagined it to be one of those books with the ripped, slightly grubby looking rockstar on the front with the title in a scripty font. But, I just… I dunno. I couldn’t do it. My books have a bit of spice in them. Maybe 3 chillis at most. But I didn’t want to write a blow by blow, if you’ll pardon the pun, account of people getting it on. I just don’t. I also don’t tend to read erotica. So I quickly worked out that I needed more of a story and I pantsed it completely. Some of it flowed nicely, some of it was shit. I rewrote the shit bits. I refined the better bits.
When it was picked up by Hera, I was asked to make the whole thing bigger, and even though it wasn’t what I had initially imagined for it, it was a better book for their edits. I very much took the scenic route.
My next book, Swipe Right, was more plotted, though still fairly loosely, but I had more of an idea where it was going. Think of it as an A point and a Z point with some bits in between that allowed for a meander. I also really loved the research for this one; spending a lot of time on Buzzfeed. Watching Wolf Alice’s Don’t Delete the Kisses video because I based Ollie on the actor who features in it.
It’s also worth pointing out that during writing this book I was holding down a full time job, writing in my breaks (and sometimes not in my breaks, oops!), I lost my granny, and I got pre-vaccine covid which knocked me out for a month.
Next, my Southampton book. Love You Too, Esty Mackie. Plotted after writing half of it. I started it quickly after finishing Swipe Right, but… lockdown, and with it; home schooling, working from home, a child who really struggled without his friends who needed nurturing, love and a lot of mothering. Plus, I was out of contract, so the book got put down. Understandable, really.
When I picked it up in 2022, I re-read the half I’d written, and plotted the rest. It’s more heartfelt than Call Me Maybe and Swipe Right. It handles deeper things. I queried it (unsuccessfully) and Hera didn’t want it. So, sadly, it’s currently shelved.
Book 4 - The Matchmakers (possibly, my favourite to date). Plotted to within an inch of its life. I attended Natalie Simmonds’ Hook to Book workshop and things really clicked into place for me. Each beat was planned, each chapter outlined. I used the Save the Cat beat mapper to help with pacing for the word count. Again, the research was extraordinarily fun (many many seasons of MAFS, a phone call with a MAFS UK cast member, loitering outside Soho House, and the inner workings of TV production) and this has been the book that has flowed the best for me. Currently querying, as regular readers will know.
12 outstanding queries
4 fulls out
8 rejections
So, what’s happening with Book 5 - the startup story?
I’m in my research phase, compiling a list of everything I don’t know about that I think I might need to, and learning about it. So far, accelerators, startup funding, different types of investments, demo days, and so on. I’ve read my comps (The Startup Wife and The Hating Game) and I’m beginning to outline the chapters based on the beat mapper. There’s going to be a mood board, and a scrivener file to keep all my research documents, photos and links safe in one place and when I’ve typed up all my character’s bios and facts, and only when I’ve done all that, will I start writing.
Is this prescriptive and unyielding? Possibly, but one thing I’ve learnt is that the more I plan, the smoother it is, and why make a tough job even tougher? It’s not for everyone, but it works for me. So what about you, fellow writers? Are you a plotter or a pantser? And how has your storytelling journey changed?
Bye!