How I Plot
Randy Overbeck is part plotter, part pantser, and his award-winning mystery series proves the hybrid approach works. Here’s how he balances research and intuition to craft his Haunted Shores Mysteries
A few weeks ago, I met an aspiring writer who asked, “Do you plot your stories out so you know where you are going or do you wing it and see where it takes you?” she asked. “I’ve heard both can work.”
My answer was “Of course both can work. I know writers who succeed using either method.”
The young lady persisted, “But what about you?”
I explained, “Basically , I’m part plotter and part pantser.”
For my Haunted Shores Mysteries, I do an extensive amount of research and advanced plotting. First, once I’ve chosen the location to set the story in, I research the town, absorbing the culture and language of the area as well as learning about the favorite sights and activities that makes the resort memorable. Next, I identify and research the social issue I’ll intertwine with the murder, for example, racial injustice for BLOOD ON THE CHEASAPEAKE, human trafficking for CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY and MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) for RED SHADOWS AT SAUGATUCK. For the integrity of the narrative, I need these issues to develop organically from the locations and represent actual murders which have taken place there. For example, the cold case murder in BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE, Darrell discovers is a lynching that occurred on the Easten Shore some 30+ years earlier and was covered up. To make this authentic, I researched two historical lynchings that occurred nearby so I could develop a story that mirrored the events surrounding the actual lynchings.
After the prep and the research, I move into my pantser mode. As I write the mystery, I let the narrative develop naturally, interweaving the elements of the resort town within the tale and dropping clues and red herrings along with details about the location. An example of this organic development in RED SHADOWS AT SAUGATUCK came during my research phase. In my travels, I’d noticed “Missing Person” flyers in a gas station/convenience store. When I read the tragic details of the missing teens, I thought it might be a good way to initiate my mystery, except I chose to have my five-year-old (Leo, the protagonist’s son who’s learning to read) encounter the flyer.
Here’s another example of my pantser mode. Some mystery writers start with the ending (the guilty suspect) and work backwards to plot the story. My approach is to create several viable suspects whocould be the murderer as the story unfolds and deliberately not make a final decision on the murderer until about three-fourths of the way. Up to that point in the narrative, I haven’t decided myself and I want to keep myself guessing the same as my readers. I make sure that I’ve dropped clues that would lead any of my suspects being guilty but save the best hint for the real murderer.
This combination of plotting first and then pantsing to create the story seems to work for me as these novels have earned a dozen national awards, earned hundreds of 5-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and generated two bestsellers already. Right now, the series is closing in on 10,000 copies sold.
In the words of the famous thriller writer, Robert Ludlum, I think I’m probably “a pantser caught in a plotter’s body.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, bestselling author, popular podcaster and speaker in much demand. After serving children for almost four decades as teacher, college prof and school leader, he used those experiences and skills to craft captivating mysteries, thrillers and historical suspense. His novels have earned more than a dozen national awards including Thriller of the Year, Best Book Award, the Gold Award and Mystery of the Year and have garnered hundreds of five-star reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and BookBub.
His newest novel, ABIGAIL TRENCH, is a historical suspense about the Revolutionary War, released June, 2026 by Diversion Books and distributed by Simon and Schuster.
Dr. Overbeck is also the host of the popular podcast, Great Stories about Great Storytellers, whichreveals the little known backstories of famous authors, directors and poets and ranks among the top 50% of all podcasts in the US. When he is not writing or podcasting, he is in much demand as a speaker, sharing informative and entertaining programs to more than 300 groups all over the country.
More info about his novels, programs and podcast can be found at his website www.authorrandyoverbeck.com
Email: randyoverbeck@authorrandyoverbeck.com
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BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/randy-overbeck
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Randy-Overbeck/e/B07QQHW7DM
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4825632.Randy_Overbeck
ABIGAIL TRENCH
A vivid, propulsive Revolutionary-era thriller with the spy-craft verve of the streaming hit TURN: Washington’s Spies and the electricity of 1776’s New York that Hamilton lovers will recognize, this story is inspired by the lone female operative in Washington’s spy ring.
In occupied New York, a schoolteacher with everything to lose turns information into a weapon, threading between Redcoats and rebels as plots against Washington gather steam.
After rogue Redcoats assault her and strip her family’s Long Island farm, Abigail Trench fights to survive in New York City—tutoring in a high-ranking British officer’s Water Street household by day, navigating taverns, informants, and soldiers by night. Through Abigail’s keen eyes—and a counter-narrative following a principled British major—the novel renders the moral gray zones of occupation with gritty intimacy. As rumors swirl of a strike at General Washington, Abigail’s vantage inside upper-crust parlors and rough waterfront rooms makes her an ideal courier—and a target.
This historical thriller delivers high tension, textured world-building, and a captivating heroine who put it all on the line for freedom.
