Pantsing for Plotters

You love outlines. Each character in your stories has their own biography. Each dramatic beat has its place in a spreadsheet. You are a plotter.

Across from you on the writing spectrum are pantsers, authors who fly by the seat of their pants and yank their stories from the aether. For some, the idea of “just seeing where it’ll go” is terrifying. It’s time to face your fears and incorporate some pantsing tactics into your writing.

A few of my favourite pantsers are Haruki Murakami, Margaret Atwood, and Stephen King. Their best stories let readers discover the world, the characters, and the plot with the author. There is a sense of urgency and passion in their writing.

Write Organically

“A short story I have written long ago would barge into my house in the middle of the night, shake me awake and shout, ‘Hey, this is no time for sleeping! You can’t forget me, there’s still more to write!’ Impelled by that voice, I would find myself writing a novel. In this sense, too, my short stories and novels connect inside me in a very natural, organic way.”

Haruki Murakami

How can a chronic plotter capture that same energy? Leave gaps in your outline and be flexible with the story. Let the characters and the rules of the world you’ve created have a say.

When a writer plans a series of events backward from the climax, there is a clear chain of cause and effect. This can create a satisfying, believable story, as the whole narrative is building toward the climax. In some cases, like the final seasons of Game of Thrones, working backward from a conclusion can lead to unbelievable events which break a reader’s immersion for the sake of the plot.

Writing from a character-and-world-up POV, rather than plot-down, can create the “organic” feeling Murakami described. For plotters, read your manuscript through this lens as you’re drafting, and make notes. Try to forget the events you know are coming, and write down what comes to mind. If there’s a difference, ask yourself which version makes the narrative stronger.

Write Decisively

Plotting can lead you to be indecisive. I’ve spent hours and days crafting character backstories only to realize that I was including more than the reader needed. Additionally, my characters could be too rigid to develop into what the story needed them to be. The characters weren’t perfect.

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.

Margaret Atwood

Write Proficiently

Stephen King is famous for “not plotting” his novels, but that isn’t exactly a fair comparison. King literally wrote the book On Writing. One reason he can get away with his style of writing is his knowledge of the craft. If you understand story structure, characterization, world building, and grammar at a fundamental level, you can spend less-time planning. In the meantime, work on filling your writing toolbox with these basic skills.

Additionally, there’s a difference between forgoing a complete outline and winging it. You should still have something meaningful to tell your reader. Your characters should be well-developed and interesting. The world should be alive.

You should also edit.

When I think of pantsing, I think of a different approach to creating the bones of your story. Plotters like outlines and pantsers prefer a first draft. I tend to fall into the second group. When I write without an outline, my first draft functions as an one: I cut it up, rearrange it, refer to it, and transform it into a second draft.

Outlines can save you time and stress, but sometimes you need a little magic to finish that WIP. Sometimes, you need to become a pantser.

This week’s challenge:

• Find some of your own writing, preferably a short story. Try to forget everything you know about it. Read it through the lens of a pantser and edit the content based on your gut feelings.
  
  Would Kyle the bellhop really tell Dianna Cross, P.I. his life story when she checks into the hotel, dumping the exposition she needs to search the old garage for the McGuffin? Decide for yourself.
• Comment below or message me on Twitter with the results. Let’s start a conversation in the #writingcommunity about the joys (or woes) of pantsing.