Plotters and Pantsers
It’s been said that there are two types of writers, plotters and pantsers.
One of the first hurdles in scripting a book is to figure out which method of writing best lends itself to your creative process. Your answer lies in recognizing how does your brain works. For example, do your creative juices start to flow as you write? Do you review each sentence as you create it, followed by thoughts of how to say it better? Do you work best from a preconceived plot dictating what you need to get on paper? Or do you struggle with the physical act of writing keeping up with new ideas screaming to get out before they flitter away? Do you prefer pen and paper, or banging away at your computer keyboard, or speaking the story into a word capture program that types out whatever is dictated? Do you outline the entire plot or create it on the go? There are no right-or-wrong answers.
One of the first things I learned about myself as a writer, is that I’m a “pantser”. I was one before I ever knew what being a pantser meant. Plotters outline their story; whether that’s a 50,000 word romance novel, a 70,000 word thriller, or a 125,000 word sci-fi fantasy. Many authors function best with an outline, filling in the details to follow along an established path. There are advantages to this approach, and experienced professionals often recommend that writers at least start with a basic outline.
I tried. It didn’t take.
Panters work without a net, and by net, I mean, an outline. Panters go where the story takes them. The danger lies in painting yourself into a corner by writing a storyline with no way out—or no way out that the reader would believe. One famous author stated he writes the ending first. He then creates the rest of the plot, writing the story as he goes to get him to the end point he’d established.
There are varying degrees of outlines and there is an abundance of middle ground between plotting and pantsing. It doesn’t have to be all one, or the other. Whatever works for you, that’s the best approach.
I’d created an outline and thought it looked pretty good. When I began developing the characters, putting words in their mouths, describing the fantasy world they lived in, I started getting the feel for who they were. As I wrote, it wasn’t long before the manuscript veered off track from the outline.
Faced with a dilemma—rewrite or plow forward—something Stephen King said guided me (at least I think it was Stephen King). While I don’t recall the exact quote, it went something like this: “Plot is just something you give the characters to do.” The meaning I took from it was that it’s all about the characters. Even a well-worn trope can be worth reading if the author creates memorable characters.
After developing a revised outline, picking up the story from where I left off, I set about to pen the rest of my manuscript. It wasn’t long before it went off track again. I realized my creative process needed the freedom to go where the characters led me. Mostly abandoning the outline, although I knew where I wanted to take the story, my creative process took off and words flowed, meeting less resistance.
Looking back, my outlining process failed to account for the influence of life experiences that only came into play when I began fleshing out character details. The random thoughts that popped into my brain and ended up on paper when sparked by what I was writing of a character’s actions or by something one character said to another. Inspiration that otherwise would not have been unleashed but for being inside a character’s head—in the moment—as I put his or her words on paper. Outlines be damned!... for me anyway.
After finishing the first draft, I compared it to the original outline. The novel had taken on an entirely different mood. Utopia Falling: A Darkness Rises is not the book I thought I was going to write, and I am grateful for it. In fact, it had an altogether different working title.
While pleased with the first draft, it wasn’t ready for publication. And I learned my second important lesson; completing a manuscript is something to be proud of, but, first drafts almost always suck! Mine was no exception.
I’ll explore more of that revelation in a future blog post.
