There’s no doubt about it that Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is my all-time favorite book. The story’s got airplanes, dark humor, and a certain existential insanity to it all. The novel was my inspiration for In the Black.

Published in 1961, Heller started the book in 1953. Many believed it was a total free-form narrative mess. “You are mistaken in calling it a novel,” Evelyn Waugh said, “It is a collection of sketches — often repetitious — totally without structure.” But that was far from true as you can see from the author’s spreadsheet (yes, even in 1953) outline above. (Click Here for a More Readable Version)

I had the same problem with In the Black, having a plethora of characters and narrative time frames stretching back over a century from the early Sixties. So for once in my career, I followed Heller’s path and created my own spreadsheet to connect times, places, and characters to make sense of it all. And it worked great on paper…until the time came to actually finish the novel.

None of the characters would cooperate with me. They all had their own ideas of what their fates and futures should be. I tried to follow the outline. I really tried, but finally gave up and let them all have their way.

Since then, I’ve definitely become a dedicated “Pantser” instead of a “Plotter.” And there’s a definite surprise in seeing how my stories end up.

Like Robert Frost said, “No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”