Surprises Behind the Scenes

Today I’d like to share something from my writing process. I’m the sort of writer often referred to as a pantser. My method, put simply, is to get an idea and run with it—rather than creating a detailed plan (the plotter method).

I share this approach with a surprising number of well-known writers. Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Mark Twain, Raymond Chandler, Meg Cabot, and Neil Gaiman are all famous pantsers who write by the seat of their pants, allowing their imaginations and characters free rein to shape the story. It’s a method I wouldn’t change now, because it’s an intriguing, exciting way to work. Most of all, it provides amazing surprises.

Take my current serialised short story, A Boy Alone, available via Bookfunnel. https://dl.bookfunnel.com/441xjbhzzi

Exclusive to my newsletter subscribers, A Boy Alone is a backstory that introduces readers to a major character in the Aucourte Series: David Aucourte—the Earl in The Earl’s Daughter, due for pre-order launch in January 2026.

It isn’t essential reading before diving into the new series, but it offers readers unfamiliar with my style a chance to sample my writing and meet the Aucourte family for free.

Part 1 begins with David as an eight-year-old, despatched to a boarding school far from home—very Dickensian and dark. Part 2, now in preparation, brings relief from the grimness. That relief comes in the form of a whole new branch of the family.

That was the surprise: the Deverells. David’s uncle Malcolm, his lovely wife Lady Alicia, and their seven children.

It turns out Alicia is the great-aunt of Alice—the earl’s daughter in the title of the first book—and also her namesake. Who knew? Certainly not me, before I started writing this second part.

It’s as if the Deverells, their Georgian manor, the stud farm, and the newborn foal were always there, just waiting inside my head until I shone a light in their direction. This is the magic of discovery writing—those wonderful moments when characters reveal themselves, when family connections emerge organically, and when the story takes you somewhere unplanned, yet somehow inevitable.

For those of you who are writers, I encourage you to experiment with this approach if you haven’t already. There’s something liberating about trusting your characters and your instincts, and letting the story unfold naturally. And for my readers, I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into my writing process—and that you’ll continue discovering these surprises with me as A Boy Alone unfolds.

Have you ever experienced moments like this in your own creative work, where something unexpected emerged that felt absolutely right? I’d love to hear about your behind-the-scenes surprises in the comments below.

Sometimes the story writes itself, sometimes it flies.