Hi Ian,

Thanks for this. Fairly timely at the moment, in terms of the story I’m currently writing, especially the tips about maintaining focus and writing the ending; I’ve done this with my two previous novels and it works best for me. The ending for my current story is a bit unclear so I think addressing this will be a very useful thing to do. I also like the advice about asking if a changed direction is better than the original; I think perhaps my original direction is getting a bit lost and it is the best one. I tend to not really plan my stories too much but start with a rough idea of where I’m headed or what I want; (thanks for explaining what pantser means, that was my guess). I think maybe I’m trying to link it all together too soon and not writing what’s really important to me about the story. I’m glad you’ve found that throwing random things into the mix has proven to be a useful thing to do; it makes me feel more confident about my own writing process. But if I get stuck I’m going to try the Crown & Anchor and Tarot cards methods. That would be interesting.

Thanks again,
Joanne