'Nox is an arts graduate wondering what to do with his life. Taylor and Lizzy are famous indie musicians, and Rocky works the checkouts at Target.
'When they find themselves trapped in a giant shopping centre, they eat fast food, watch bad TV and wait for the mess to be sorted. But when days turn to weeks, a sense of menace grows.
'The stakes are raised as they begin to uncover the truth behind their imprisonment to find not only their identity, but their survival, is under threat.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
The contrasting practices of planning or ‘pantsing’ are regular topics of discussion within fiction writing circles. In a field where each writer’s practice can differ so greatly, these approaches to writing offer a rare opportunity for categorisation and insight. Australian novelist Valerie Parv states that ‘pantsers’ are known as such ‘from flying by the seat of their pants, because they like to discover the story as they write. Their opposite, plotters, prefer to work out every twist and character development before starting’ (Parv 2014). I knew little of these choices when I began writing my debut novel Carousel (2015). The decision to ‘pants’, for me, was subconscious, driven by anxiety, naivety and an obsession with daily word counts. What I discovered, both during the writing of Carousel, and the subsequent research for my PhD, was a process steeped in popularity, complexity and risk. This paper considers the definition, methodology and application of ‘pantsing’, and the reverberations of this practice within both Carousel and sequel Beyond Carousel (2016). ‘Pantsing’ not only emerges as a viable writing strategy, but a practice eliciting valuable creative outcomes.' (Publication abstract)
The contrasting practices of planning or ‘pantsing’ are regular topics of discussion within fiction writing circles. In a field where each writer’s practice can differ so greatly, these approaches to writing offer a rare opportunity for categorisation and insight. Australian novelist Valerie Parv states that ‘pantsers’ are known as such ‘from flying by the seat of their pants, because they like to discover the story as they write. Their opposite, plotters, prefer to work out every twist and character development before starting’ (Parv 2014). I knew little of these choices when I began writing my debut novel Carousel (2015). The decision to ‘pants’, for me, was subconscious, driven by anxiety, naivety and an obsession with daily word counts. What I discovered, both during the writing of Carousel, and the subsequent research for my PhD, was a process steeped in popularity, complexity and risk. This paper considers the definition, methodology and application of ‘pantsing’, and the reverberations of this practice within both Carousel and sequel Beyond Carousel (2016). ‘Pantsing’ not only emerges as a viable writing strategy, but a practice eliciting valuable creative outcomes.' (Publication abstract)