Jenni Curry, ACTWC Blogger in Residence

I have always planned my stories. They often come to me, one scene at a time and I tease them out of my subconsciousness and try to develop the character until I know them as well as people. I’ve used Michael Hauge’s ‘Six Stage Plot Structure’ before starting to write the text, in an attempt to ensure the validity of the story, and make sure that the subplots were strong enough. However, I am yet to write a story of any length, including short stories, which actually follows the intended plot.

In my last manuscript, the protagonist starting having a heated relationship with someone who was completely wrong for her, because the chemistry was there—who am I to try and stop these things. It took me three days of staring at my screen before I figured out how to break them up…