Are you one or the other, or somewhere in the middle?

I’ve always trended more on the side of the pantser. A rough outline, certain plot points I wanted to hit, but nothing too detailed. Enjoying the journey of seeing how characters will act and react, where a story might veer into unexpected territory, all that jazz.

But I always kind of envied the plotters. They can lay it all out there, so that when the drafting starts, they have a roadmap to follow.

A month or so ago, I became obsessed with an idea for a story (the story I mentioned in my last post, if you read that). The story seemed to fall together in my head effortlessly. I had almost the whole story plotted out in my head—which is incredibly rare for me—and thought this was the time to taste the forbidden fruit. I was going to plot. I was going to plot so hard.

So I ended up with a longer, more detailed outline than I’ve ever had before, and I started writing. I was cranking words out, moving right along with the outline, when I started noticing little changes. Characters saying and doing things that, whether I liked it or not, were slightly veering away from the outline. But I was never tempted by the idea to dismiss the new ideas, because in almost every case it’s made the story more interesting. I’m now 23k words into this thing, and while it’s still broadly the same story, things have already been added or changed that have altered a lot of the book’s back half. I’m not even sure if the original ending is going to survive. I have no idea exactly where this story is heading anymore. And I could not be more excited.

But that leads me to my point. Am I a born pantser, or do I just suck at plotting? I guess what I’m saying is, are you a born plotter, or do you learn how to do it over time? Do you plotters out there ever find your stories veering off course? Do plotters end up with such tight outlines that they can crank out the draft in no time because they have a fully developed story just waiting to be executed? Does it ultimately matter?

Probably not. Definitely not if you’re seeing the results you want. But, pantsers: If plotting helped you write faster, would you change? I’m not sure if I can even answer the question myself. I did enjoy having a thorough outline at first. I really zipped along. Could I ever come up with an outline well thought-out and detailed enough that I could write an entire novel like that? While the efficiency of that approach is appealing, there’s something special about watching your characters evolve, and realizing hey, maybe they wouldn’t make that choice after all. That’s a hard thing to give up.

All I know is I’m creating and it’s fun, and that’s all that really matters.

(Right now, anyway, before I actually have to go back and read what I’ve written and start the laborious hell of editing and revising (stating it that way might say a lot about why I’m the way I am)).

Happy writing, and good luck to anyone tackling NaNoWriMo next month.