Folks are gearing up for this year’s #NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month), a movement that has writers attempting to complete an entire draft of a novel (or at least write 50K words) during the month of November.
Now, I don’t write novels, and I don’t really plan to start writing a novel any time soon. The idea of writing 50,000 words on any subject gives me the heebie-jeebies. But being a writer is all about building and honing your craft, and NANOWRIMO, which its emphasis on daily writing, is a great opportunity to do just that.
A number of writers I follow on Instagram have been musing on the question of plotting vs pantsing, that is, carefully plotting out a story before you start writing or making it all up as you go along. I would say that I’m somewhere in the middle. I generally have an idea of my main story plot points when I sit down to write – I know how I want the story to start and how I think it will end. But I’ve never been one to spend too much time on outlines – I prefer to put pencil to paper and see what happens! My mind is a jumbly mess at the best of times, and I find that simply letting it wander and roam can often lead to the best stories. I should note that I do a lot of editing on each manuscript, however, and I do wonder if I might spend less time editing if I spent more time planning! But that’s just not how I roll.
I can understand why novel writers might be more inclined to be plotters – when you have plots within plots, multiple characters with development arcs, different time periods and settings and all sorts of things to keep track of, I can see why it would be helpful to plan out all the many moving parts in your story!
I think part of the reason I’m such a pantser has to do with my anxiety. I have a tendency to feel overwhelmed by planning – rather than finding comfort in planning and plotting I often feel buried under endless possibilities and options and outcomes. By sitting down and simply writing what comes into my mind, it helps turn off the overthinking machines that whirl in my brain and threaten to stifle my creativity before it even starts. Sometimes the best way to release your brain is to turn part of it off!
But what about you? Are you a meticulous planner, or a by-the-seat-of-your-pantser?