How do you write your stories?

There’s a common distinction these days between two different types of writers: pantsers and plotters. One is an author who writes their story with a very ‘by-the-seat-of-their-pants’ method. The other likes to plot (outline) their book beforehand.

To be honest, I’ve always been a little of both. I have some books I’ve written where I was able to dive in and write from start to finish without any kind of a structure or outline. My novella, Drather’s Story, is a good example of this. I wrote it in episodic format (sort of like a TV series) in the style of 24, where each episode leaves off on a cliffhanger of sorts and segues into the next chapter or episode. I didn’t sketch this all out beforehand, simply let the story take me where it wanted.

The first book in my Black Earth series was written this way. However, the second book in my Black Earth series required an outline, as I had a variety of characters in various places around the world, and their stories had to intersect in a specific way to advance the story into the books after it. When I decided to tie my Black Earth and Expired Reality fiction series to one another through time travel and multiverse themes, this forced me to have to outline in most situations now. Although, even with a very basic outline structure, I still go by the seat of my pants with a lot of the writing.

So do you outline or do you dive in and worry about the structure of your story at a later time? There are definite benefits to both, and most of those benefits are dependent upon your own writing style and needs for the book you are currently working on.

Pantsing, for example, can capture more emotion in your writing. You are writing from feeling, from instinct, and this allows for more natural interactions between your characters. I find this to be especially true in character dialogue. The drawback to pantsing is that you usually have more edits, revisions, and rewrites on the other end to make the story make sense. But that’s not always a bad thing.

Outlining, on the other hand, can give you a map to navigate your story as you move through it. This can be especially helpful when you are writing multi-book series and/or larger novels that require more focus. The drawback to outlining is that sometimes the structure can stifle creativity and even douse the emotional aspect of writing.

Blending both pantsing and outlining has its benefits as well. I think that’s where most of my writing lands. I like to have a basic structure, but flexible enough to allow me to take my characters on detours if the fancy fits me. Most times, I know the ending of my book before I even start writing it. This gives me a goal to reach, but doesn’t necessarily restrict me in how I get there.

For those who have participated in National Novel Writing Month, you probably know what it’s like to fly by the seat of your pants while writing. The contest (that takes place every November) requires authors to write 50,000 words of a manuscript within the confines of the month. After participating in the event for over 15 years, I’ve grown accustomed to my own strategies that have helped me to write my books in general. I used to pants my way through NaNoWriMo, but I now realize I benefit from outlining ahead of time. The mix of outline with frantic writing speeds have garnered me the bulk of a manuscript at the end of each November that I then expand upon and turn into actual novels.

For those wanting some tips on pantsing and outlining, I offer my own strategies that I have used in the past:

Microsoft Word Comments

I used Microsoft Word to write (most) all of my stories. Word has a tool where you can add comments off to the side of your document while you’re writing your story, and I have implemented this in almost every story I have written. Especially while I’m pantsing, sketching out comments to the side of the story has helped me know what places I need to come back to and refine. I’m able to jot down notes that have to do with specific scenes, specific characters, and specific sentences. I’ve finished rough drafts of my books before with over 500 of these comments, and although it can be a bit daunting going back through them in the next draft, they do help to serve my pantsing ways while also adding a little bit of structure to the manuscript.

Scrivener (or other writing app)

Scrivener – and other writing apps like it – enable you to break your writing down into sections, chapters, episodes, or whatever suits your fancy. I have used Scrivener for one of my in-progress novellas, and I like how you can structure things the way you like them. These types of programs that enable you to section off chapters help hone your focus on specific scenes without you getting lost in the whole of the manuscript. You can also reorder scenes and chapters so the structure of the story is exactly the way you want it.

Written Outline

This is the most basic way to outline, consisting of a word processing program with your chapters sketched out in order, with a small summary of each. This tends to look a little like a written road map, and it makes a great reference as you are moving through the storyline. Through this method, you also have the ability to add or subtract whatever scenes/chapters you want as you go along.

Notecards

I used note cards to sketch out some of the books in my Black Earth series. Especially since certain scenes took place in a variety of different time zones, having color-coded note cards that I could lay out on my wall or living room carpet helped give me a visual interpretation of how I wanted the whole book (and even series) structured. This also helps you find red flags and gaps in your story. If you don’t have the physical space for notecards, some writing software (such as Scrivener) allow you to use note cards within their program.

Timeline

When it came to adding time travel to my stories, I found that outlining certain things on a long sheet of butcher paper assisted me greatly. This gives a great visual prop that you can constantly reference as you write your novel, and it can be added to and subtracted from quite easily. Of course, nowadays they have apps and programs that will allow you to craft a timeline, but I still prefer a nice big visual I can use to take up my entire living room wall. Timelines are great to indicate key points in your story’s historical background or key points in the story structure in general, depending on how you use it.

So are you a pantser or a plotter? Do you have your own tools that help you write your stories? Drop a comment and share with us your thoughts on outlining or pantsing. However you write, you write!