{"id":653,"date":"2015-09-02T08:20:45","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T12:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/?p=653"},"modified":"2015-09-02T08:20:45","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T12:20:45","slug":"plan-or-pants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/02\/plan-or-pants\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan or pants?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before I start the main post, I\u2019m re-posting part of a question capng asked in comments on the last post: I\u2019m worried that if one of the minority characters dies, readers will read too much into it \u2013 I\u2019ve seen enough criticism on the internet because of things like that.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesterday I wrote this and I don\u2019t want it to get lost, because people have stopped\u00a0checking and it\u2019s important: I don\u2019t think we should pay much attention to what we read online about what\u2019s good or bad in writing. We don\u2019t know the person who said whatever it was or what his motive was\u2013or how good a writer he is! I don\u2019t know any rule about killing off or not killing off minor characters. It depends, as it always does, on how it\u2019s done and how the death fits into the plot. One of the things I adore about this blog is how positive and encouraging we all are.<\/em><\/p>\n

On to the post.<\/p>\n

On April 17, 2015, Hypergraphia wrote, I know, Ms. Levine, you said you didn’t outline. However, I know of many famous authors who swear by it. What about you guys (other readers of this fabulous blog)? Do you find it easier to finish a story with or without an outline? Does it make your story better? I hadn’t outlined until I read all these things saying it was much better if you did outline, but I’m not sure if it’s going to work for me, so I was just wondering what you guys thought.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kaye M. repeated the question: I’m reading WRITER TO WRITER\u00a0now, and I’m curious to hear what Mrs. Levine thinks about the benefits of pantsing over plotting. I’ve always outlined because I have friends that outline religiously, but sometimes, especially if it’s raw in my head and not a revision, I feel like I’m bleeding out my enthusiasm for the story and trying to commit the colorless remains to paper. Other times, I try to get by without it and I realize that there are parts missing or I worry about my stakes being high enough. Does this mean I should try pantsing?<\/em><\/p>\n

People kindly weighed in.<\/p>\n

Tracey Dyck: It all depends on the writer. I know of excellent writers who outline (extensively or sparsely), and also excellent writers who “pants” everything (meaning they make the story up as they go along). Both kinds of writers are equally capable of pulling off AMAZING books.<\/em><\/p>\n

I myself tend to fall into the outliner’s camp, but I don’t plan so thoroughly that I know everything that will happen. I like to leave some room for creativity. My outlines are never set in stone. For shorter projects, I plan much less and end up halfway pantsing it, but for the 4-book series I’m working on… let’s just say I would be entirely lost without my outlines! So I guess it depends on the project as well as the writer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Song4myKing: I agree with Tracey that it’s different for different writers. That seems to be the way with any art.<\/em><\/p>\n

I outline. I find I have to know that there is a possible way to reach a good ending before I can actually begin writing. Basically, I figure out and write down what the main plot points will be, and I have in my head at least some idea how I’ll get from one to the next. Sometimes this takes the form of possible chapter titles or a rough timeline.<\/em><\/p>\n

I do go through a bit of a (very unorganized) process in my head before I can figure out an outline. I compose scenes and try out various directions that I then keep or kick out. I wonder if those of you who don’t use an outline do a bit of that same processing while actually writing?<\/em><\/p>\n

carpelibris: I’m a pantser. I’ve tried to outline, but it quickly goes astray.<\/em><\/p>\n

From what I’ve heard and read, a lot of my favorite writers are pantsers too. I wonder if that’s common?<\/em><\/p>\n

This subject fascinates me! I\u2019m always interested in better ways to write, and I love to hear what other writers\u2019 processes are. I want to know what people do to get past the bumps that trip me up.<\/p>\n

We may not have free will when it comes to outlining versus pantsing versus falling somewhere in the middle. Our method may choose us. I\u2019m like carpelibris. I\u2019ve tried to outline. I\u2019ve asked writer friends to explain their outlining procedure. I\u2019ve listened, nodded, even taken notes. But when I try to follow their example, I get confused and bored. I itch to try my ideas out in scenes. On the rare occasions when I have managed to work up an outline, I inevitably and quickly discover that I forgot some major factor that unhinges it, and I veer off into uncharted, pantsy territory.<\/p>\n

However, I\u2019m not a total pantser. Even without outlining, I\u2019m happiest if I\u2019ve got a notion of my story before I start writing, and I like having an end in mind, although it may change when I get there. It\u2019s possible that I retell fairy tales because they give me a sketchy outline, and they\u2019re generally pretty simple, so I can embroider and go in fresh directions while still sticking to the original story shape.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m delighted to announce that I finished the first draft of the prequel to The Two Princesses of Bamarre<\/em>, which took me only about nine months. Contrast that with four-and-a-half years for Stolen Magic<\/em>. The difference is that I imagined the prequel as Rapunzel meets Moses (just part of the story of Moses) while I made Stolen Magic<\/em> up from scratch\u2013and got lost and made a few very foolish story choices.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible that some genres lend themselves more to outlining than pantsing, and the mystery, which Stolen Magic<\/em> is, might be one of them. I\u2019m speculating here, but a mystery, or a complicated one anyway, calls for more moving parts than, say, one of my adventure fairy tales. In a mystery we have to figure out the movements of not only the villain but also the suspects and the victim. Everyone has secrets, and we have to get interested in them all. It\u2019s complicated. Maybe an outline, like Hansel and Gretel\u2019s breadcrumbs, can more easily be followed to reach an ending.<\/p>\n

And conceivably a simpler plot works better for a pantser. Take \u201cSleeping Beauty,\u201d for example. Nothing to it. The pantser has only a few plot points she has to hit, which gives her a sense of security. She has to get the fairies to the christening, but she can have a grand time bringing them there and delving into what\u2019s going on with any and all of them beforehand. At the ceremony, she can have a field day with the dialogue. When Sleeping Beauty sleeps, what dreams does she have? Who is the prince and why does he take on this quixotic quest? And on and on.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m with Tracey Dyck in that I, too, doubt that whether one outlines or pantses influences the quality of a book. Quality comes from word choice, plot, characters\u2013all the elements we go into here.<\/p>\n

Kaye M. asks if it\u2019s better to pants or to plot, but everybody has to plot. The difference is plotting ahead of time versus plotting as you go.<\/p>\n

I agree with Song4myKing that outlining for outliners is a lot like writing for pantsers: exploration, uncertainty, experimentation.<\/p>\n

Each method has difficulties. Years ago, I listened to some classes taught by Brandon Sanderson at Brigham Young University that had been taped and made available for free online, which some of you may find interesting. I did! Here\u2019s the link: http:\/\/brandonsanderson.com\/creative-writing-class-lectures-updates\/<\/a>. He discussed differences between pantsers and outliners, and I think he said he falls mostly into the outliners\u2019 camp. The difference that I remember is that he said that pantsers love to revise and outliners do not. Wow! Revising is my favorite part of writing. What outliners love, if I remember right, is plotting, and plotting makes my head want to explode, though I do it, and I happen to be a plot-driven writer (rather than character-driven).<\/p>\n

A while back, I had a conversation with the young-adult writer Walter Dean Myers on the subject. I’ve mentioned this before, because it astonished me so much. He was (he died last year) an outliner and as far out on the spectrum as possible. He told me that by the time he finished an outline, he knew how many sheets of paper to put in his printer for his draft, and he knew exactly how many pages would be in each chapter. I concluded that he and I had grown up on different planets. He wrote a book about his method, Just Write: Here\u2019s How!<\/em> I read it, and was glad to have someone else\u2019s method mapped out for me, although I continue to stumble along. You may find it useful.<\/p>\n

Whether outlining or pantsing are better for finishing stories, I\u2019m not sure. Pantsers have written here that their stories peter out into tangles and loose ends. Outliners have commented about getting bored. Outliners may need to blow up their plans a little to get excited again, and we pantsers may benefit from imposing order on the chaos we\u00a0make.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t recommend this from personal experience, because I\u2019ve never tried it, but I\u2019ve heard from other writers that it\u2019s helpful. I\u2019m talking about Scrivener, described by Wikipedia as a word processing and outlining program for writers. Scrivener isn\u2019t free, but if you\u2019re comfortable with technology, you can download a similar public (free) program. Does anyone on the blog use Scrivener or anything similar? What do you think?<\/p>\n

In these two prompts I may be setting you up for failure by asking you to go against your usual method and maybe against your nature. If you\u2019re enjoying your story\u00a0but the process keeps getting in your way, abandon it. But first give it your best shot. Here are the prompts:<\/p>\n

\u2219 This can be realism or fantasy: A\u00a0young man is walking along a cliff with a friend when he falls off. His death is the basis for your mystery story. If you\u2019re a pantser, write an outline for the whole tale and then write the first scene. See if you can stick to your outline. If you\u2019re an outliner, don\u2019t outline, just pants the first scene, although you are allowed to think ahead about how the story might end, but you may not write anything down. If you\u2019re inspired, keep going.<\/p>\n

\u2219 Write a prequel to \u201cSnow White,\u201d that ends with her stepmother ascending to the throne. If you\u2019re an outliner, don\u2019t. If you\u2019re a pantser, do.<\/p>\n

Have fun, and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I start the main post, I\u2019m re-posting part of a question capng asked in comments on the last post: I\u2019m worried that if one of the minority characters dies, readers will read too much into it \u2013 I\u2019ve seen enough criticism on the internet because of things like that. Yesterday I wrote this and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[295,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":655,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653\/revisions\/655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}