During an interview with CrimeReads, mystery writer Peter Swanson talks about his career and why he doesn’t outline his novels. While he has a general idea of the path his story will take, Swanson says he keeps most of his thoughts in his head until he’s reached a point where they will appear in the novel.
“I think it keeps you open to potentially putting stuff in your book that’s genuinely surprising. Twists that arise naturally are often better,” he says. “What you don’t want to do is make decisions for your characters before they come alive.”
“If you’re in the writing process and you know exactly what will happen next then it’s basically just like filling in the blanks,” Swanson adds. “But if you don’t know, then you give those weird things room to grow. Something bubbles up in you. Sometimes it’s disturbing, and that’s really good.”
