"These characters take on lives of their own," writes Nik (aka Ross) Morton in an article below which describes the genesis of Old Guns, his new novel for the Black Horse Western series published by Robert Hale Ltd, of London. Thereby he puts his finger firmly on a mainspring of popular fiction.
Telling about the doings of interesting characters makes for a good story. "Successful stories can be indicated in terms of the main character" is familiar, age-old advice to Extra readers, especially those who also write themselves. And the advice holds good for both kinds of fiction writer, the planner and the non-planner.
The planner will begin his or her story with a scheme, written or unwritten but firmly in mind, that will carry him to a tidy ending.
The non-planner will begin at page one, trusting to faith and the relatively easy ability with today's technology to produce several drafts before arriving at a "clean", properly structured final version free of irrelevant diversions, inconsistencies and illogical developments.
As long ago as our editions of March and June of 2008, we debated here the advantages and disadvantages of both schools of writing...
Read more at Black Horse Extra.
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