Plotting versus Pantsing - My Novel Plotting Methodology Answer
Plotting is where you lay out a story before you write and pantsing is where you fly by the seat of your pants and just start writing.
If you have been following this blog for a long time, you know that I also am a creative writer. I have written a Tokyo guidebook, short stories, and a novel. I am currently working on another novel where I have written 75% of it and am progressing towards the big finale. The novel is based in Japan, on a sacred mountain, and involves a konbini, one of my favourite things about the country. Tying all the plot threads together and keeping up the tension has been a fair bit of work so far. It is fun work, but work.
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| Organize ideas for plot cards. |
Over the last few days this week I took some time off from writing the current chapter to detail out my plotting methodology for creating a novel. I have posted it up on my Medium account and if you are interested in writing a novel, or how I think, please have a look and leave a clap or a comment.
See the Detailed Overview of my Novel Plotting Methodology here on this blog. |
| Brainstorming and Iterative Writing Phases of my plotting methodology. |
My methodology presented in the flowchart above is obviously not just a set of tips for plotting or pantsing. It is a way of combining various tips / techniques into a structured approach to achieve defined outputs at each stage. Most of what you read on the internet doesn't give you this level of detail.
This methodology builds out of my software development background. Because of this, I'm pretty much in the plotting camp of this writing debate. However, I'm not just any kind of plotter as I recognize that creative writing is inherently pantsing. Being creative is pantsing, but that doesn't preclude being organized about the pantsing. You want to unleash the Kraken at the right time!
The five stages of the methodology are:
- Story Concept
- Determine Initial Ending
- Create an Outline
- Create Plot Cards
- Writing Chapter & Outline Next Chapters (repeat until done)
The first three stages are all about brainstorming and getting ideas down. You create your plot and iterate through it as quickly as possible to come up with a story line. It is kind of like prototyping your novel without all the actual hard work of writing the chapters. Use brainstorming techniques, and don't forget about how to build a story line using the hero's journey or three act structure, etc. The last two phases are where all the work gets done in more detail and the actual writing happens (a structured pantsing approach).
I've seen first hand how some writers are very prolific and creative, but have to do major revisions / rewrites to complete their novel. I don't think this is a good thing as it sometimes results in the writing project being shelved or abandoned. That is a real effort that has gone down the drain when this happens. If this were a software project, it would be at risk of failure or being majorly over budget. The plotting methodology tries to prevent this from happening and it is very much about risk reduction while allowing pantsing in the right place. There is more work up front using my methodology, but it saves you time later, and it is supposed to be relatively quick and let you pants your writing in the second phase.
Detailed Overview of my Novel Plotting Methodology
How to Outline a Story or Novel
Check out the Medium articles below if you want to know more.
Why Plotting Instead of Pantsing Part One: https://medium.com/p/396025cf9355
Why Plotting Instead of Pantsing Part Two: https://medium.com/p/8f7249af272a
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