
Hello, and welcome to Blonde Girl Writing Blog! Today I'll be explaining how authors can both pants and plot their novels to create a more fluid plot.
As you may or may not know, part of my mission at Blonde Girl Writing is to give writers tips and advice to help them grow. This will accomplish just that.
Today, I'll be talking about how you can use both pantsing and planning to plot your novel. First, I probably need to explain what the heck pantsing and planning are.
Pantsing is named because those who follow this type of plotting typically fly by the seat of their pants. There is virtually no planning--just jumping headlong into the project.
On the other hand, planning is where those who follow this type of plotting plan most of the novel out beforehand. The plot, characters, voice, etc. are planned before the first draft even begins.
There are plenty of arguments for one side or the other. I lean more toward pantsing myself, mostly because I dislike waiting to do anything and prefer to discover things as I write and see where things go. However, today I want to show you how--no matter if you like pantsing or planning more--you can weave both of these types of plotting to better your novel. This will look different for each writer, but I'll try to give a few overall tips to help you find your process.
On the planning side:
Plan anything that you know you'll want to reference later. Things like characters, worldbuilding, and at least a basic plot. It's totally up to you how far you go--I personally like to be semi-detailed with my characters, fairly detailed with my worldbuilding, and sparsely outline the plot.
If you lean more toward the planning side, it's better to focus on your plot. Planning your plot out before beginning to write gives you an angle to consider your characters. Figure out what your story is about, what your characters will be doing, and then make them better from the plot you create.
On the pantsing side:
Pants anything you don't want to plan. For me, this is most of the plot. I love following the guidelines I've planned for myself while discovering what happens scene by scene.
If you lean more toward the pantsing side, try to be more detailed and intentional in crafting your characters. When you like to pants, it's probably because you hate the thought of outlining your plot. However, you can't discover your plot unless you have interesting, though-out, three-dimensional characters going through the journey.
The general rule of thumb to remember is this: when you get tired of plotting, get to the writing! Writing is supposed to be fun, so when you get to the point that you're just itching to write, do it. That's what editing is for--reconciling your current draft with your plotting vision.
Weaving pantsing and planning is an intricate dance--especially if you tend toward one type of plotting or another. But figuring out your strengths and weaknesses in plotting will help you figure out what you should plan and what you should leave to pantsing.
Well, I hope this post has encouraged at least one writer out there! Thanks for joining me this Writing Tip Tuesday : )
Best wishes,
Jonah
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