How do I write my novels? Am I a plotter or a pantser?
Since coming out as an author I’ve become part of a community I didn’t know existed, of other authors and would-be authors, and web designers, podcasters, editors, cover designers and creators of the online tools that help the ebook market run. And like any community it has its own jargon, words or phrases that are familiar to those on the inside, and rather perplexing to those on the outside. Two such words that get thrown around a lot in the online author community are Plotter and Pantser.
Specifically, if you write fiction, you pretty much have to decide if you’re one or the other. Stephen King is a Pantser. JK Rowling (apparently) is a Plotter. And I might be wrong, but I get the sense that this particular piece of jargon, and the approaches to writing they define, have crossed over somewhat to readers as well. The process of the how things are created is kind of interesting. So I decided to set out my thinking on this great literary divide.
But first, if you’re not familiar with those terms, allow me to explain. A plotter is simply someone who plans out their novel before they write it. A pantser is someone who “flies by the seat of their pants,” – proceeding with only minimal, or no planning at all.
When I began writing I hadn’t heard these terms, and didn’t think much about plot at all. That partly explains why my first attempts at novels are still sitting unfinished on my hard drive, and my first completed (but unpublished) novel didn’t have much of a plot at all. The other explanation for those attempts never seeing the light of day, is just that they were awful.
When I did start thinking about plot, it was very much as-I-went-along. For The Wave at Hanging Rock, I had a vague idea of what happened in the first part of the story, and after that I just kept going, slightly desperately, down whichever direction seemed most plausible at the time. It’s more than possible this explains the slightly unusual structure of the story.
I didn’t know at the time, but this put me very much in the pantser camp of writers. The implication that it’s as daring as dangerous flying is probably overstretching things, given you don’t need to leave the safety of a desk, but there is a level of risk involved with writing this way. It’s certainly possible to write thousands of words, perhaps tens of thousands, only to find you’ve put your characters in an impossible situation, or just in a situation that isn’t as good as another idea you’ve subsequently had. You’re then left with the horrible task of redoing weeks of work to put them back where you actually want them, or leaving the words in place, and feeling the story isn’t quite what you wanted it to be.
I went down several wrong directions trying to finish The Wave. I killed Darren several times and then brought him back to life (once in a ‘car crash’, once beaten after a few pints in the local pub and pushed into the river, once strangled in the woods.) As I write this I can’t actually remember what actually happens to him in the finished book. And I can’t remember why changing this was so important, only that it was, to make the other pieces of the plot fit together, as best as I possibly could. I probably spent more time rewriting the book, to try and force it to make sense after it was written, than writing the first full draft. And in the end it’s probably more accurate to say I abandoned it, rather than finished it (which perhaps explains the slightly-too-abrupt ending).
As a result, I’ve made a conscious effort to shift more into the plotter camp for subsequent books. The plot for The Things you Find in Rockpools was loosely plotted out on post-it ® notes, and then stuck to the wall of my little office. I found this worked quite well, but for a couple of limitations. First it’s quite hard to fit enough text on a little post-it note, and difficult to draw the necessary connections between the plot points. Also I don’t write anything with a pen these days, so it made my hands hurt, and I couldn’t read my own writing. Most importantly though, I found it hard to discipline myself to keep going. Creating a boiled down summary of a plot is hard. It was easier, and a lot more fun, to just give up and start writing the book. Actually that’s not quite the most important problem. That was when the post-it notes ® kept falling off the wall.
But even with a loose plan arranged on the wall, and piled on the floor beneath, it was definitely easier to keep track of everything that was happening in the story. And it was reassuring too, knowing that I was working towards a completed plot that at least mostly made sense. A hundred thousand words is still a hundred thousand words, but the manuscript for Rockpools only took about eight months to finish, and there was less rewriting to get to the final version.
So for my latest novel The Girl on the Burning Boat, I took things one step further. I used a tool called Scapple, a kind of computerised mind-mapping tool, to plot out the entire book, with interlinked bullet points. It took about two very-painful weeks to produce the 16-A4 pages of plot stuck above my desk in the picture below, but I was fairly confident when I had it, that I had a pretty solid plot worked out. It then only took three months to write the full book.
So if anyone asks me know, I’m definitely a plotter these days. Although not so much that I won’t follow a new idea if it comes along. I think it’s still good to listen you what the characters say, and if they’re adamant they want to do something I generally let them and see where it leads. Hence anyone tempted to zoom into the image above to see how Burning Boat pans out, will find themselves disappointed…
🙂
note: The Things you Find in Rockpools is available now from Amazon (coming soon on Audible). The Girl in the Burning Boat is coming soon – hopefully this summer.
Thank you Gregg. It is interesting to see your progression. I’m not there yet. I am an independent author who is still definitely a pantser. I probably have enough abandoned chapters from each of my two novels to publish a third novel!
Interesting article, Gregg. Your Scapple ‘mind-map’ is impressive! But have you looked at Scrivener? It seems to solve a lot of these issues (eg a virtual ‘cork board’ instead of pot-it notes that fall down). I’m going to try it out for my next book.
Thank you, Gregg, for a very interesting insight into the creative process. Also, you have a very neat desk for a creative person. How much cleaning up was involved before that picture was taken (smile)?
No time at all, I just swept all the mess onto the floor. 🙂
I have loved reading all of your books Probably not in the order you wrote them
I can’t wait for the new book although I’m mid way through your brothers book which has kept me motivated whilst I’ve been writing my dissertation ( sometimes light reading about factual events calms the mind)
I’m also amazed that all the comments so far come from the girls.
Keep writing Greg but enjoy half term first.
Sue
I believe you captured your readers by The Wave at Hanging Rock; at least you did with my. One would have sworn I was the author … I couldn’t talk enough about this great book and recommending it to all who would listen. The Wave … is still my favorite, although I thoroughly enjoyed your 2nd and 3rd books as well. So, whatever you did … plotted or “pantsed” your books, you seem to have the skill of both, but I believe mind-mapping is the way to go. I was shown the technique while in the working world but never applied it. Best wishes with … Burning Boat, I’m sure it will receive equally as many favorable reviews as your other books. Can’t wait for it, which says I’m an avid reader of yours. You got me hooked Gregg
I loved all three of your books! and The Wave at Hanging Rock is still my favorite…. even when it left me so frustrated at the end that I had to write you, and I’m glad you replied! It’s good to hear about your writing process…. very funny and interesting! pantser must be one of those Brit words like fobbing! : )
I think it might be American – given pants are underwear this side of the Atlantic, and trousers your side? Seat of your pants…? Could be either I suppose. Do US pilots go commando? (I’ll get my coat.)
Hi Gregg! It turns out the expression is originally British (flying by the seat of one’s trousers), an aviation expression from the 1930’s. It means flying with no radio, no instruments, no flight plan…
Plotting or pantsing..seems you’ve nailed them both beautifully. I, too, am guilty of the “sticky note” phenomenon, although, mine don’t stick and that’s become a nightmare and a full desk drawer of panic. If plotting has helped relieve some of that “writer’s insanity” then I applaud you and am a tad jealous. Either way, I love your stories and am a forever fan. Keep it up, you have discovered your treasure! Thanks for all those fantastic pages!! (Maybe you should paint those office walls a delicious blue) 😉
Thank you so much, that’s a lovely comment to read! The office is actually stolen from my four year old, meaning the kids are sharing a room, which doesn’t seem to be working so well. I don’t reckon I’ll keep it long enough to paint it…
Still like ‘The Wave at Hanging Rock’ best. I was surprised by this article as always thought authors plotted everything out in advance. You are very clever. Wish with all my heart I could write a book. I have lots of ideas but never know how to develop them and a little voice inside my head always tells me I can’t do it.
There’s never been a better time to ignore that voice and just go for it! I doubt there’s been many who’ve published a book that didn’t doubt it at some stage. Get started and get in the habit of adding to it, you’ll be surprised how quickly the words add up…
Phew!! And there was I, thinking this book writing lark would be a doddle. Well done you
You don’t mention ‘The Desert Run’. Have enjoyed all three of your books but probably that one the most. As it was the second book, assume you had already fallen into the category of Plotter?
An interesting article. I was completely unaware of how ideas were brought to life but now have some comprehension of the problems associated with making stories gel.
And isn’t it a bastard when you can’t read your own writing!!
I didn’t mention it because it’s my least favourite! I’m always surprised when people say they like it, let alone that it was a favourite… In terms of the plotting/pantsing debate, it was still pantsed (what a horrible term that actually is). But almost to the point where I only really worried about the plot at the end, hence my feeling that the plot is a little shoehorned in when I ran out of things to say. It’s more of a stream-of-consciousness fantasy adventure. But I’m glad you liked it!!! I must re-read it one day and see if I actually like it after all.