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What I learned from pantsing this cowboy romance novel
Spoiler: I didn’t use an outline and it still somehow worked.
The first book of the year has been drafted and turned in to my beta reader! Secret Royal and the Rodeo Cowboy reached THE END at 47,142 words. This is book #56 for me.
The cool thing about this romance novel is that I had a premise, made a list of interesting characters, had an idea of a few scenes in between, and an epic grand gesture ending, but nothing else. I simply wrote down what the characters wanted me to say.
The plot developed organically based on this formula: conflict + character. I mean, throwing a princess-in-disguise and a cowboy together seemed like a surefire way for sparks, so I mined it for what it was worth.
When things were going too smoothly, I scrapped a couple of bland chapters. I then lobbed more obstacles in the characters’ way and let them figure things out (or not).
Was it scary going without an outline? Yes. Was it exhilarating? Yes. Did it work out even better than I imagined in the end? Yes.
When you trust in the process, it’s magic!
Thank you for reading!
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