Pantser or planner – your writing practice is yours and yours alone.
For most of my writing career, I’ve been a pantser.
Pantser = one who writes by the seat of their pants.
An idea popped into my head – and I sat down with my notebook or at the keyboard and started on it. And in this way, I created multiple stories and produced several novels.
Sometime in 1998 or so, I sat down and wrote a scene with a sorcerer standing atop a mound of earth. He was unleashing his power, rolling the ground, and taking out a lot of soldiers who’d been pursuing him. But with that act, he burned himself out.
While this scene no longer appears in Seeker as written (it’s now a partial flashback), this scene led to what is now 3 finished fantasy novels, one more underway, and another envisioned in my Source Chronicles series. And thus far, all of that has been written almost exclusively as a pantser.
After watching Star Wars – The Clone Wars in 2020, an idea popped into my head. What if my original vision of the clone wars – as mentioned by Obi-Wan in the original movie – left a whole lot of clones unemployed after the war? What becomes of them?
This time, rather than just sit down and write by the seat of my pants – I started worldbuilding. And that led to planning the story I would tell. Before long, there were 4 books of my Forgotten Fodder series planned out, written, and then published.
Were my days as a pantser over? Would I now write exclusively as a planner?
Not exactly.
Why not both? Both are good
Having the idea for the plot when you start writing out your story is amazingly empowering. Why didn’t I recognize this for what it was before?
Because it’s also just as empowering to start telling your story and find your plot along the way.
The biggest difference, in my work at least, is that writing from a plan means I meander less. Fewer bits amble and threaten to slow down the narrative.
It might be less obvious to the reader – in fact, I rather hope it is – that some of the scenes in stories I wrote as a pantser move at a slightly slower pace in impacting the forward motion of the plot. But then, my worst critic is me – and this might be something only I will truly notice. Like in my Void Incursion series – the first 4 books having been written by the seat of my pants.
But not everything requires me to plan. For example – blog posts.
Yes, the title and topic are the impetus for the content of these articles. That’s partially a matter of planning – but also a matter of SEO optimization. Without focus keywords, blog posts might not get noticed in searches via Google, Bing, and the like.
You must be careful in your writing practice with using keywords. Overuse them, you get dinged by the searches. Underutilize them, and you make no impression.
What’s more – your article might lack cohesion if you’re too focused on SEO.
Still, apart from that – my blog articles are written by me as a pantser, not a planner. Given these are approximately 1000 words – this seems utterly reasonable.
So, I embrace the power of “and”, remaining a pantser AND a planner.
Hybrid writing practice possibilities
I used to wonder how someone could plan chapter by chapter, before ever writing a word of their story. Isn’t that deeply disempowering?
But then, I tried it for myself. No, it wasn’t disempowering at all. In fact, quite the opposite. Once the plan had been made, using it for my writing practice made it a lot easier to prevent getting stuck. I had a plan for this chapter – so that let me know where I had intended this part of the story to go.
Is it so rigid that I can’t alter it? No. I found that, sometimes, the plan I wrote out was just a guideline. It was the gist of where I wanted the story to go. But it could be changed. Especially when the character did or said something along the line I intended – but not as expected.
There’s no dialogue when I plan. Just a general idea of whose perspective I’m telling the chapter from and where that’s going to take them. Hence, dialogue and situations as they go from outline to fleshed-out story, shift.
Does that make mine a hybrid writing practice? Perhaps. I would have to get into a more in-depth discussion with longtime planners.
But does it matter? No, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t.
Your writing practice or other creative endeavor is yours
Maybe you’re not a writer. You might have a wholly different creative enterprise. Perhaps you’re a painter, poet, photographer, graphic artist, scientist, actor, or another type of creator.
I suspect that pantser versus planner is not just about writing practice. As an amateur photographer, I know that I’ve planned shots, and also just taken random pictures purely in the moment. Thus, I suspect such is true of other arts and sciences.
What matters most of all is that you do your art. Be a creator. Don’t withhold your creativity from the world. Even if you debate being a pantser versus a planner, the most important thing you can do is your art. Create.
The world needs more creators and creativity. Many forces strive to limit this for all sorts of untoward and nasty reasons. You and I are living in a unique time, where creativity can open just as many doors as a trade skill.
Pantser or planner – your creative process belongs to you, and you alone. The most important thing about this is that you put the love and energy into being a creative – and express your amazing self. Whether you share what you do with the world or not.
Be inspired to be your own creator, whatever form that takes.
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