How I wrote a whole novel without a plan!

 I've stated before that I'm a plantser, meaning I'm someone who plans a basic layout for my story, then make the rest up as I go along. That's how I usually go about doing things, but I do sometimes make exceptions; sometimes I plan the whole work meticulously, and seldom do I just wing it. This is the story of the novel I completely and utterly made up as I went along, and it SOMEHOW became one of my very best!

Last year, I was struggling to write the third book in my Geekyverse series. I had a few false starts; I originally planned a book in which the character of Kevin Derriwinkle would meet and fall for a girl while working at the mall, and it was titled The Summer of Nerds! I lasted nine chapters before dropping that story. Next, I planned a prequel story called That 80's Geek! Which was to star Daisy's stepmother, Sarah. Again, thirteen chapters before getting the axe. No matter what I planned, nothing seemed to click the way I wanted it to.

So one fine July afternoon, I decided to say "screw it" and just started improvising a story. I picked the character of Vanessa Russo, who was something of an antagonist in my previous novel, A Tempted Geek! What story was I going to tell with her? I had no idea! All I had was a title: Geek on the Side!

Seriously, I had NO IDEA where I was going for the first five chapters that I wrote the story. I was just exploring this character, seeing her act and react to things. Then I decided to experiment with a plotline about cosplay, see if that went anywhere, and it kind of didn't. But it helped me introduce a new character and form a new dynamic, one I'm eager to explore further in the future.

It wasn't until chapter ten that I started getting a better idea of what I wanted the story to be. I started exploring the idea of Vanessa meeting people who challenged her world view more. I liked the idea that Vanessa would legitimately start feeling SHAME over her lifestyle; how she has sex with married people, how she sometimes seduces people away from their relationships, and how she takes no responsibility for it all. I liked that idea.

Then came chapter fourteen, and I think THAT was the chapter that really set up what the rest of the novel would be like. I was experimenting with the concept of the Wham Line, the idea that a single line of dialogue can change the course of the whole story. That's why I had the character Doug growl the name of his ex-wife upon seeing Vanessa.

I spent a good ten chapters debating whether Vanessa would be Daisy's half-sister or full sister. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that being the full sister would allow for better dynamics, a better story flow, AND a chance for more character development. Also, this choice added a new layer of complexity to the character of Liliana, Daisy and Vanessa's mother, by showing her as not only willing to abandon her young daughter, but also her willingness to pass off her child as another man's just for her own benefit.

The ending to the story was only clear to me by the time I was writing chapter thirty eight. Having Vanessa not only accept her real father, but also build a relationship with him and his (their) family. I'm not afraid to say that those final chapters were VERY inspired; I legit wrote them all in the same day! Three chapters in one day; that's insane for me!

When I was done, I was all "wow, I wrote this?" And I say that because, honestly, Geek on the Side! may well be my BEST work yet! I often find myself re-reading it, and I gotta say, I'm really proud of it!