Plotting and pantsing

So you've come up with an idea for a book. Great! Well done, congratulations!

Now what?

Apart from knowing what you want your book to be about (and hopefully having at least a vague idea of how it will end), now is the time for you to develop the story.

I'm sure you've heard of the terms 'plotter' and 'pantser'. Just in case you haven't, I will briefly explain each of these terms.

A plotter is someone who outlines and has a clear idea of where their novel is going, along with the steps they need to make to get there. A pantser is someone who literally 'writes by the seat of their pants', meaning they go with the flow and don't have a firm plot or subplots. George R.R. Martin uses slightly different terms for these two categories and refers to pantsers as gardeners and the plotters as architects.

You can be either of those, but you can also be a bit of both. I know I certainly am, and the approach I will take will mostly depend on the novel I'm writing.

Lots of writers use a mixture of plotting and pantsing. They outline some parts of the story – the major beats – but leave other elements room to develop naturally. You don’t need to make a hard decision between one . Remember that outlining isn’t a set of hard and fast rules. You can deviate from an outline as much as you want. You can also start outlining if you’re a discovery writer and get stuck.

Let's go over the pros and cons for each approach.

Plotting (outlining ahead of time)

Pros:

• Clear direction.

The power of clarity is often underestimated, but knowing where your novel is going and how it’s going to get there can be the difference between getting to the end and getting lost along the way. A typical plotter will break down their outline, some into a precise three-act structure and some into a less familiar, five-act one. Often, this will be accompanied by scene descriptions and story beats. There is no doubt that this helps the author know what they need to do and when they need to do it, but it also provides the 'Why?' and 'How?' In short, knowing the answer to all these questions will help propel the work forward, since you won't be spending time wondering what to write next. In addition, having a clear direction provides you with an opportunity not to wrote linearly, but rather tackle scenes when you feel like writing them.

• Better understanding of characters.

Crafting characters with believable faults, clear motivations and fleshed-out backstories is vital to

to holding a reader’s interest throughout the book. Having high stakes, cliffhangers, or twists will mean nothing to the reader if they don't care about your protagonist (and their sidekicks). I will speak about character development in one of my next posts, but let's just say it's complex process that takes lots of time and patience. As a plotter, you will want to know everything from physical description to morals, as well as internal conflicts and demons. The more you know about your characters, the better, although a lot of things might never make it onto the page. Don't feel bad about it, though – stuffing things into the manuscript for the sake of using all the material you have (a stockpile of research, world-building, character profiles) can often be worse than having underdeveloped characters!

• You’re less likely to get stuck.

When you're plotting the story beforehand, you're basically providing yourself with a blueprint / a map that will always be there to point you in the right direction. No chance of getting lost along the way – you will know exactly what will happen and when before you even write down your opening sentence. Even if something unexpected happens – and it might – a well-crafted plan will help get things back on track. There is little to chance for you developing a so-called 'writer's block': all you need to do is consult your notes. It's all there, and it will make your life so much easier.

• Fewer rewrites.

A well-plotted draft is less likely to require less extensive rewrites compared to a freshly completed manuscript of a pantser. Structurally, your novel might need little to no intervention, since you have already carefully considered all characters and events. This will give you more time to focus on fine tuning the characters' interactions and their dialogue, building more tension where needed, adding foreshadowing, and even simply focusing on line editing to make every sentence pop off the page.

• Perfect for complex works

Having a plot laid out in front of you and knowing your characters as though they were your closest friends and family can be of massive help when writing series, or even novels with a complicated premise. For novels on genres that require world-building or magic systems, this approach will often prevent you from making an accidental wrong choice. Once again, all you need to do is check the rules your characters must abide by, and you'll surely stay on the right path.

Cons:

• More work upfront.

You’ll spend a lot of time planning before diving into the story. Outlining a novel is no easy feat, especially if you're only just starting and this is your first manuscript. Plotting can be very time consuming, not to mention intimidating. You might find yourself cornered from the very beginning, not knowing where to start, and in turn, discouraged. This might lead you to give up on the idea overall, and that's something we definitely don't want.

• Tracking progress is hard.

If you’re someone who thrives seeing the wordcount increase each time you sit down to write, plotting might not be the best option for you. A lot of hard work needs to be done behind the scenes; a lot of the studying, researching, and preparation you made will never make it to the page. You could spend an entire day flashing out a character, only to realize you haven't seen them in action. And if there is no action, what's the point? Even the most goal-oriented writers sometime feel disheartened in the process of outlining, as it can take forever.

• If you change plans, you'll have to start from scratch.

Sometimes, things just don’t according to plan. You may have an almost completed outline and end up discarding it. With novels that are carefully knitted together, sometimes a quick fix isn't an option. Imagine how frustrated you'd be if you spent a couple of months – or worse, a couple of years – planning every single detail and ending up not liking how the story turned out. Back to the drawing board it is, but some, if not most people, simply won't have the patience to go through the process all over again.

• The plot may seem too contrived.

One of the pitfalls of having an intricately crafted plot is the desire of a plotter to show off how clever they've been, masterfully planning the big moment when all the pieces finally fall into place and the big picture comes together. All that foreshadowing they've smartly placed throughout the novel leads to this, and this moment alone: the twist they want to leave the readers breathless with. However, the moment can be ruined if the readers can see, or at least guess, what's coming from a mile away. The plotter's knowledge of how everything ties together may bleed onto the page; instead of having an organic feeling, the narrative might seem way too thought-out, even convenient.

• Slow progress

Plotters are the ones who require informed decisions and a detailed plan of attack before continuing with the story. Especially if they found themselves in a predicament and aren't sure how to continue despite having most, if not all, details in written. If they've already found themselves in this position, they will never just jump in but take a step – or five – back and reevaluate the entire situation. This means even more time spent on thinking and pausing the process of writing itself. The more obstacles they encounter, the more times they have to pause. Ultimately, this may lead them to never actually finishing the novel, as they have the need to backtrack at every obstacle.

• Plotting can be difficult without the right tools.

When I spoke about the writing apps and software a while back, I covered those who aren't simply word processors, but world building programs. Scrivener, for example, is a perfect example: it's management system for documents, notes, and metadata that allows the user to organize notes, concepts, research, and whole documents for easy access and reference. But Scrivener comes at a price, as does World Anvil. Paying for all these can be quite challenging for a newbie writer and may lead them to think they don't stand a chance against those who can actually afford these tools.

• It doesn’t work for all genres.

Character-focused or more literary / experimental books can be a struggle to outline. You may find yourself wanting to plan everything out only for the subject itself to be your worst enemy and biggest obstacle. Sometimes, it truly is best to go with the flow.

Pantsing (writing by the seat of your pants)

Pros:

• Unbridled creativity.

Unlike the plotters, the pantsers get to experience the thrill of the unknown in writing the story completely from scratch. This can be very liberating. Nothing unlocks the true power of creativity as a lengthy period of freewriting, where you will allow your creativity to be your guide. Writing whatever comes to your mind is an excellent way to focus on the art of writing itself, and not just storytelling. This will also help you develop your own writer's voice and the writing style that might suit the novel / story in question the most.

• Being surprised by your characters.

Characters evolve, even more so if you let them do their own thing. You might have thought of a particular path for your character, but thing happen and ... It's just not working. So you let them explore while following every step of the way. Naturally, your character won't have this level of independence on the first page, or even in the first 50 pages. This happens organically, and much later in the process of writing. The good thing about pantsing is that you can allow your character to make that fatal mistake and then, after understanding what led them to this decision, truly develop their character. This way, you can have a three-dimensional cast that will surprise not only you, but the readers, too.

• Flexibility to evolve plot.

Writing a first draft by sticking to pantsing can be more freeing, and feel less constrained. You might have a conversation, a dream, even a real-life event inspiring you to introduce something to your novel. With a firmly established plot, this isn't going to be possible. If you don't have too strong of an attachment to your original idea, evolving and changing the plot can only work to your advantage, even if – or should I say, especially if – it results in something completely unexpected. Going down the road discovery is exciting, both for your characters, you as a writer, and your readers. It can also help introduce plot twists and cliffhangers the readers obsoletely thrive on.

• Clear measure of progress.

To this day, most writers rely on the total word count to define their progress. If you have a rigid plot, you might find yourself thinking about the story all day long yet not getting any words down. After a while, this can be frustrating. Not to mention discouraging. On the other hand, if you allow your creativity to flow, you will undoubtedly notice the difference between yesterday's and today's word count, which will in turn inspire you to get back to work the very next day. Also, you will approach writing with joy and won't see it as a burden.

• Drafting can be less stressful.

The reason for this is simple: you know you can come back and edit / fix things later. You just keep writing with one thing in mind: finishing the story. And once you do finish it, that sense of victory is priceless.

• There’s less pressure to execute the complete, fully formed idea in your head in the 'right' way.

This is closely tied to allowing your characters evolve naturally and spontaneously. Things don't need to happen in a clear order: A leads to B, which leads to C. Rather, they happen when and if they to, which in turn relieves you of pressure of having to stuff things in for the sake of spectacularly-put-together plot.

Cons:

• More frequent blocks.

You might get stuck more often, because you don’t know where you’re going. You don't have that blueprint the plotter spent weeks or months on, and you may get lost on the way. Or worse, write yourself into a corner. Unfortunately for pantsers, this is a common occurrence. Without even a rough outline, it’s very easy to end up unfocussed, blocked, or spinning around in circles.

• Your characters could end up feeling underdeveloped.

I don't think I need to point out how bad this can be. One-dimensional characters aren't interesting. Think about the last time you met someone who seemed to be put together on the outside but had no interests or hobbies, not to mention a passion for something. You wouldn't bother to meet this person again, would you? The same goes for the novel. Your prose may be spot-on, but if your protagonist is someone who's spending their time flat-lining throughout the book, the readers won't care about the absence of filtering verbs and glue words, nor will they notice the absence of adverbs in dialogue tags.

With no features (and I don't mean facial features!) the readers can identify or sympathize with, you story can feel flat and unsatisfactory.

• Ups & downs

Because so much of the writing journey is dependent on inspiration, progress can be quite erratic. Pantsers can be found either riding their creative wave or dwelling in the caves of despair. For some, that fall into the nothingness can be so darn harsh, they stop writing overall. Others, in contrast, dig their way out of the hole steadily and with lots of patience. And all is well unless they have a deadline, when they'll probably regret not planning ahead.

• Plot holes.

Writers and readers alike all hate these. The danger of turning the unexpected into the implausible looms more often than not, as the pantsers don't account for the story at large before writing it. Thus, a few inconsistencies are bound to happen. Some might be minor and hard to catch, but some... Oh, boy! Pansting your way through a story means there may be plot threads left hanging, unresolved until the very end to the dissatisfaction of the reader. New threads might come out of the blue with no solid grounding, all thanks to the author’s strike of inspiration. Characters who started out as 'tall, dark, and handsome' can easily end their race as 'short and fair'; their names might change, as well as their background; their magic powers could drastically differ with no given explanation. Overall, the second half of the story can read more like a book on its own than the continuation of the first half.

• Extensive rewriting.

If you're on the pantser side, prepare to do significantly more revisions and edits than any plotter. Pantsers are often in need of serious structural editing, as to identify what threads to keep and which to snip. Because all this structural tinkering could have been avoided with extra planning time, the pantser may be staring down the possibility of a third, fourth, or even fifth draft before their manuscript truly shines.

• The book could become either too sparse, or too long and packed with filler.

The word count matters, especially if you're planning to pitch your project to agents. The best practice is to check what is the desirable word count for your genre and plan around that. Filtering verbs and glue words can easily be deleted, but filler is another story. Filler content serves no purpose: it has no true bearing on the story. Removing it would have little to no effect on the plot, but it may rid you of a hefty word count if you weren't careful. Thus, although it's technically easy to remove, it needs a different approach entirely.

Okay, so that's that! I bet you are even more confused now. Which approach should you choose? Well, the so-called 'plantsing’ or 'plotsing' is a happy medium I warmly recommend. It combines elements of both of the above approaches. The key features are: having an understanding of the essential plot points, characters with known flaws and motivations, a vague idea of how the story ends. However, I've got news for you: this hybrid mould will NOT save you from the extra editing. It might, however, be a very good option for those who want to have the best of both worlds or those who are relatively new to the process.

The truth is: we can set our goals, but forcing ourselves to be either a plotter or a pantser is quite difficult. Go with your guts and follow your instincts, as any other approach may turn you off writing altogether, but be aware of the downfalls and make baby steps in ensuring you don't end up stressed. After all, writing is supposed to be fulfilling. It's something that makes you happy. Don't allow your joy to be turned into a drag.