Plotter vs Pantser… To Plot or Not to Plot, that is the question
Two stories. Three books (so far).
When I sat down to write my first horror book, I didn’t expect for it to be good—and that might not be your opinion, but it did well with reviews. Novella, “Dying To Meat You” was an idea that arrived during an online class on how to write horror. There was no plotting. I pantsed the entire book.
When it was finished, it felt unfinished to me. Lots of unanswered questions. That’s when I decided to turn the tables and write the full length story from the killer’s point of view. “The Taste of Women” looked at the villain as a human being. While she was a serial killer and a cannibal, she was also a human with feelings and that is what I wanted to convey. With this, I had to plot just enough to keep the story following the same timeline as the first book without being repetitive.
This novel enhanced the story by delving into a backstory of how it all began for our main character. With history, a series—or universe—was developing in my head. There was more to this cannibalism beyond that of one sick-fuck of a woman. At the end of it, I knew I wanted to write the prequel.
While the prequel percolated, I wrote another cannibal book which utilized a lot of the same characteristics as the first two—trying to develop the “disease” these poor souls faced. Again, this book was written on the fly versus a thought out plot, other than taking the future events and making them relative to this earlier set of characters.
“Mastering The Art of Female Cookery” had a sweet, age-gap romance underneath the humorous cookbook recipes, which I loved.
Now it’s time to think about that long-awaited prequel. This is where I have to be careful in how I proceed, which means that I might have to plot this entire book out in some form… why? Because I have to make sure that all of the questions are answered. All of the who, what, when, why, and hows are important to cover.
I am not a plotter. I have never been one. Some people plot like they are writing a thesis summary while others just bullet point ideas. There are those who need this; me, I’ve always just gone by the seat of my pants, which does get me in trouble sometimes. It might be one of the reasons a lot of my books have reviews where the reader feels like the ending felt rushed or that the finale fell flat.
I guess I should plot.
Here is what we know so far about the cannibalism in my universe.
It only affects women after they have their first menstrual cycle if they had been served untainted human meat.
A female child that is fed human meat will not change into a cannibal until she has her first period, after which, the symptoms begin.
If a woman is infected, her body will slowly eat its self from the inside, similar to a cancer. Becomes very thin, even though she could eat six hamburgers every day.
Despite a dying body, doctors don’t understand why because all blood tests are normal minus iron-but adding iron vitamins to the diet doesn’t fix the problem.
The only fix is to eat more human meat.
All males can be eaten for sustenance.
Females can be eaten for sustenance if they are not affected by the disease. How to tell is by how their periods smell to the infected people. They could eat non-infected females, but it would not feed the craving or satisfy the needs. It’s like eating iceburg lettuce. No real nutrients.
Feasting or eating human meat increases the sexual libido, almost like Viagra for women.
Human meat also keeps the infected woman young and vibrant with lots of energy, which is why a sixty-year old woman acts more like someone in her thirties or forties.
If someone deprives themselves of it, she will begin deteriorating again… much like in the beginning where they thin even though they are eating all the time.
It is not a lesbian disease.
There is a cure.
Now that the facts are listed… what other questions need to be answered (if you have read the books)?
The plot so far… Its starts at Woodstock in 1969. A group of female friends go to the music festival and attacked. Somehow, they find their way traveling down Route 66, where they take up residence in a small town off the main highway. It is there, they feast on unsuspecting visitors. This is the same town Valerie finds herself trapped in when she eats her lover.
And that is all I have so far.
WHAT ARE YOUR IDEAS FOR THE PREQUEL/NEXT INSTALLMENT?
I’d love to hear your ideas, especially since I feel it needs a plot outline.