Plotting Vs Pantsing

Do you plot or pants your novel?

There
are two schools of thought on how to write a novel.

Plotters: outline their novel. They plan it out.

Pantsers: Fly by the seat of their pants. They write the novel as it comes to them.

There
are pros and cons to both.

Pantsers: the author is basically telling themselves the story as they write it. It's more exciting to write the story this way because you don't know what's going to happen next!

Plotters: They know where the story is going. There are no surprises.

I
have a writer friend that is a dedicated pantser. She absolutely
hates outlining a story because then she looses all interest in it
because she knows what is going to happen.

However,
she also stares at blank pages a lot because she doesn't know what's
going to happen. She also has to rewrite a fair amount because she
needs to clarify things that happened earlier and set up plot points
that she made up on the fly.

I am personally a plotter. I LOVE having an outline. Sometimes, I'll basically make a first draft out of an outline. (I've written 20 page outlines…)

An example of a very detailed outline

However, I also use the chapter by chapter outline as well. I write down the 30ish chapter points so I know where my story is going.

A chapter by chapter outline.

I
like this method because I don't get lost. I always know what is
going to happen next and I can write in the details needed to make it
happen. My editing time is a lot less because I don't have to
backtrack and fix things. I also don't stare at blank pages as much.
(I still stare at them, but at least it's not because I don't know
what I'm supposed to be writing about)

I
also know someone that uses the “note-card” method. She writes
down each big important scene on a note-card. Then she sticks them to
her wall for a rough guideline of where she needs to go. It's not 20
pages of detailed outline, or even a chapter by chapter outline, but
just a broad path of what needs to happen next.

As
with all writing, find what works best for you. There is absolutely
nothing wrong with being a pantser– as long as it is working. If you
are spending all your time staring at a blank page, make a note-card
outline. Make it work for you.

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