mjDemon AngelHere’s the thing about writing a story: I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m still not quite certain how I got from page one of my manuscript to page five hundred *cough thousand cough* — and I had no idea until I actually got to the end of DEMON ANGEL how it was going to end.


Oh, I knew it was going to end happily — that’s a given –and I knew the bad guy would be defeated. But in the synopsis I turned into my editor (I had only three chapters written at the time, and the synopsis was to give her an idea of how the rest of the plot went) I summed up the ending with: and Hugh outwits Lucifer after a massive battle on Alcatraz.

Demon AngelWhat I didn’t add, because it’d be a dead giveaway to my editor that I had no idea how he was going to do that, was “Hugh outwits Lucifer … somehow.” And if you’ve read the book, you know that’s not exactly how it happened. (So, if you haven’t read it, don’t worry — that wasn’t a spoiler.)

Demon AngelSo, what happens between writing the first three chapters and writing the end? Well, a couple of things: I got to know my characters very, very, very well — and I ran out of options. By the time I got to page four hundred *cough thousand cough* I knew exactly what Hugh and Lilith were capable of … and what they weren’t. I knew that I’d set up Hugh as the ultimate good guy, and Lilith a consummate liar. I’d woven threads about rebellion and bargaining and symbols through the book (and those threads weren’t there in the synopsis — Part One didn’t exist, bargaining didn’t exist, and the symbols didn’t exist in those first chapters I sent to my editor) and, like the gun on the mantel in a mystery, I *had* to use them.

Demon AngelIn writing parlance, they call this being a pantser: you write by the seat of your pants, figuring everything out as you go along. I’m not writing completely blind — I do have a general idea oh how the plot will twist — but the details are where I’m often surprised. And I don’t mean surprised in a “my characters took over and I have no idea what they’re doing” but in a “wow, that little thing I stuck in way back on page 30 really means something now, and is going to come in handy.”

Demon AngelAnd there does come a point where all of the plot options are narrowed down to one or two. As I get to know the characters well, the decisions that they make become much more clear, and it’s like a madman pruning down the branches of a tree; pretty soon you’re left with a solid, straight trunk. No, Lilith would never play nice. No, Hugh would never turn his back on someone in danger. No, Lucifer isn’t going to let her out of her bargain.

Demon AngelThat doesn’t mean there can’t be twists in the plot, or that characters can’t grow and change — but those changes have to be based on what has come before, and there has to be an authenticity and truth in every decision they make. Anything else, and they aren’t really characters … but just the sum of plot points that I’ve thrown out willy-nilly, because I desperately need to get to my HEA, and, dammit, I told my editor that Hugh was going to outwit Lucifer so even if it makes everything I’ve already written about his character false I’m going to do that … arrgh!

Demon Angel

I don’t like willy-nilly, so, for me, that isn’t how it works. And I’m not really sure exactly how it does work…I just know that it does.

Demon AngelI do feel like I’m often figuring things out along with my characters … and with DEMON ANGEL, that was exactly what happened. I got to the end … and they figured out how to solve their problems around the same time I figured out how to solve it for them (which may account for the hundreds of *cough thousands cough* pages I ended up with).

And Lucifer *was* outwitted … somehow.

Demon AngelDemon AngelI’m wondering: what’s the most surprising moment you’ve read or seen in a book or a movie? On reflection, was it a moment that was in character — or did it seem willy-nilly, to serve the purpose of the plot despite characterization? (If it includes a spoiler, don’t forget to put a spoiler warning in the comments.)

And, if you’re a writer, are you a pantser or a plotter?