What you should know before you start writing . . .

A topic sure to piss a few folks off.  Apparently there are two schools of thought.  1 - flesh out the plot and then write; and 2 - write by the seat of your pants.

Everyone I know who is a *pantser* writes drafts.  They claim the book tells itself organically.  I see it differently.  To me, it's like giving yourself permission to write crap.  Vomit it up and clean it up later.  IMHO, what a waste of time.  Time working writers find scarce.  If you only have three months to write a book, why on earth would you waste a huge chunk of it churning out a draft?  Why not get it right the first time. 

And your story is organic?  The characters decide what happens next?  Seriously?  Gee, I must be doing something wrong because my characters aren't actually real, so I have to put the words in their mouths.  Would that they did tell the story.  But alas, they've left that up to me.

So what do you need to know?  As much as possible.  Characters, plotlines, setting, timeline - all of it.  Think of that stuff as a map.  If you're going somewhere for the first time, don't you use a map?  Or a GPS.  Well, you need a manuscript GPS.  You need to organize your thoughts before you can have your characters communicate those thoughts.  Since I write mysteries, I really need a map so I can make sure I've planted all the seeds and introduced and eliminated all the red herrings.  I also think that's true for romance.  You have to show an evolving relationship but to do that you need to know where the characters are going.

I highly recommend yWriter.  It's a free download that helps you organize your plots, threads, characters, etc.  It is a great tool.  There are other tools out there - WriteWayPro, Power Structure, etc., only those programs are a little pricey.  With yWriter, you can take yourself from beginning then middle then end just by typing in a minimal amount of information.  It gives you something more specific than working from a synopsis alone.  Or you can skip the fancy software and create something in Word.  Just do a chapter breakdown and organize them as you will.  I also recommend color-coding.  If chapter one runs long, highlight what was omitted so you will remember to put it in the next chapter.

Organization equals speed.