Handing in my pantser resignation

BethS · May 13, 2013

njmagas said:
Were you an outliner who cast off the chains of ridged structure for the freedom of write-as-you go?

Yeah, that's me. I started with an outline because I was told that's how you do it, made a left turn in the second chapter, and never looked back.

Linda Adams · May 13, 2013

njmagas said:
So, has anyone else (secretly) crossed the floor? Were you a pantser who gave up your chaotic ways for the discipline of the outliner? Were you an outliner who cast off the chains of ridged structure for the freedom of write-as-you go? Or do you pop back and forth, enjoying the best of both worlds?

None of the above. When I started writing, it never occurred to me to use an outline. I have experimented with them, and I can't work with them. Just can't connect my creativity to them.

CrastersBabies · May 13, 2013

I guess I enjoy both worlds. I outline extensively when I begin, but as I write, things change and I have to adapt and follow the breadcrumbs to see where they take me at times.

I've always been reluctant to say, "YOU MUST BE ONE OR THE OTHER," because that's kind of stifling other possible methods that might assist you in the future. Do what works. Dabble in both. Find a new method . . . divining, for instance. Whip out the Ouija board and go.

calieber · May 13, 2013

I used to think all authors pantsed. It never occurred to me that one could outline fiction. When I discovered one could, I switched.

And then I found myself plancrastinating, so I just sat down, wrote an opening line, and went from there. I wouldn't say I've completely switched back -- I'm the opposite of the OP, I can't get myself to start if I don't have some sense of the path the story is going to take -- but I'm starting to find a middle ground.

Now, switching to outlines for blog posts for my main client worked wonders.

WriteMinded · May 14, 2013

njmagas said:
Well, sort of. I still need to start the story to know where the story is going but I've decided that about half way through, I need a retroactive outline to reel in all the tangents that have flown off and made my story so confusing I don't know what's what anymore.

So far it's worked out well for my current WIP. It was pushing past 80,000 words and the MC still hadn't done a single thing for himself. So I pulled out my purple outline marker and wrote down what needs to happen and who it needs to happen to and the story just fell out from there. I've axed a good 10 characters, my plots holes have been filled and the whole thing looks like it'll be wrapped up in about 25 chapters. I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

So, has anyone else (secretly) crossed the floor? Were you a pantser who gave up your chaotic ways for the discipline of the outliner? Were you an outliner who cast off the chains of ridged structure for the freedom of write-as-you go? Or do you pop back and forth, enjoying the best of both worlds?

This is exactly what was on my mind this morning . . . and all day yesterday . . . and the day before that. I never considered myself a pantser. Characters bid me write them. The end of the story comes to mind. The beginning pops up next, followed quickly by a solid idea of what happens to the POV guys. That's my outline. I start to write. At some point, usually around the 60k mark, I get stuck. I'm stuck now. I HATE it.

Wishing I had an outline but knowing one will not appear on its own, I sit in front of the computer trying to compose one. When that doesn't work, I curl up on the couch with pad and pen. When that doesn't work anxiety grips me. Yaddah, yaddah.

So, anyway, that's why I'm here this morning.

ishtar'sgate · May 14, 2013

blacbird said:
It's a process. And, for me, endings tend to come easy, beginnings are an agony and generally suck.

caw

Me too. My endings are actually how I begin the process of developing the story I want to tell because I know where I want to end up. Openings drive me out of my mind. I finally decided on one for my current WIP but not before eliminating a half a dozen other scenes. I've kept them because I can use them elsewhere, just not as the opening. I also write pretty much the way you do.

njmagas · May 14, 2013

WriteMinded said:
This is exactly what was on my mind this morning . . . and all day yesterday . . . and the day before that. I never considered myself a pantser. Characters bid me write them. The end of the story comes to mind. The beginning pops up next, followed quickly by a solid idea of what happens to the POV guys. That's my outline. I start to write. At some point, usually around the 60k mark, I get stuck. I'm stuck now. I HATE it.

Wishing I had an outline but knowing one will not appear on its own, I sit in front of the computer trying to compose one. When that doesn't work, I curl up on the couch with pad and pen. When that doesn't work anxiety grips me. Yaddah, yaddah.

So, anyway, that's why I'm here this morning.

*high five*

Try the retroactive outline? It's helped me a lot to see the parts of the story that I missed.

Erin Latimer · May 14, 2013

I'm done with my pantser ways. My "first" book was off the cuff, written by hand in a manner of weeks and I had NO idea where it was going.

I wanted a more complex plot for the next one, and I started planning it out and discovered OMG I LOVE PLANNING.

Out came the recipe cards and the flow charts and the timelines and I never looked back. Of course, I don't always follow the map, I stray off the path occasionally, if the story calls for it.

Handing in my pantser resignation

BethS

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

CrastersBabies

Burninator!

calieber

Couth barbarian

WriteMinded

Derailed

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

njmagas

Erin Latimer

Stay in and write.