If you’ve ever strolled down a Reddit writing thread or browsed a Facebook indie author’s group (for support, of course, not to procrastinate from *actually* writing – perish the thought!), you’ve probably heard the term “pantser.” It’s a funny-sounding word; here it is used in a sentence:
“I’m a pantser, and it works for me!”
Or “I could never outline – I’m a pantser!”
But what is a pantser, exactly? And is it bad to be one?
A pantser is someone who “flies by the seat of their pants” when they’re crafting a story. (If English is your second language, “fly by the seat of your pants” is an expression that means “decide what to do as a situation progresses”, as in with no pre-planning or even a clear strategy.)
For writers, this means sitting down to a blank page and a blinking cursor with no outline, no chapter-by-chapter plan, and no index cards detailing what should happen in each scene (Danielle Steel’s method, I’m told).
That’s right. Nuthin’.
For those who love to plan, that probably sounds like a nightmare.
But for others, there’s simply no other way to write.
The Pantsing Process
For a pantser, writing goes something like this:
I have a great idea!
*sits down at computer*
*writes*
That’s the gist of it. Further down the road, pantsers can find themselves in situations like this:
Okay, Miss Main Character, I didn’t know you felt that way about him!
Oooh, that’s interesting! I guess my characters aren’t going camping this weekend after all…
I love this story!
Wait… what should happen next?
And, once the editing process has begun:
Yes, it’s a thriller, but it sort of turned into a romance, too…
Plot holes? Where?
Rewrite it?!
The pros and cons of pantsing are like two sides of the same coin.
On one side, when you sit down to write with few pre-planned ideas, you get to tap into your inspiration and let your ideas flow freely, possibly ending up with a more exciting, unexpected and interesting story than you would have otherwise.
On the other, you might get stuck in parts, unsure of what should happen next. Or, after you finish the book, you’ll discover gaping plot holes because either your characters veered off course at some point or your ideas changed, and you forgot about something you had set up at the beginning. You might also receive reader feedback that the story doesn’t quite hit the mark for your genre.
How the other half lives
Planners, by contrast, work out the direction of their story before they begin to write. Some planners plot out the details of every scene, thereby swerving the issues of plot holes and wondering what to write next. Others like to set down a basic outline and stick to it.
When it comes to writing for a specific genre, like thrillers or romance, planning your book to some extent can help you make sure the story covers all the bases that readers will expect – for example, meeting the love interest at the start instead of running into them halfway through (because you suddenly, at that exact moment in the story, made them up).
Where planners can run into trouble is in the time and detailed thinking it takes to plot everything out. This may become so dreary and overwhelming that they give up. Planning everything to a T also leaves little room for bursts of creativity that might make the story better.
What about pants-planning?
If you couldn’t tell, I just now invented the word “pants-planning” – it literally rolled off my fingertips as I was typing that heading. Yes, dear reader, this author is a pantser herself. As such, I’m uniquely qualified to invent a word like “pants-planning” and present it to my fellow pantsers as a way to write the way that best works for you – while keeping yourself out of trouble.
Pants-planning is essentially adding a few lil’ planning sessions here and there during the writing process.
For example:
You might think about a basic direction for the story before you start.
You might start writing all willy-nilly, then stop when you run out of steam to figure out the next few plot points.
You might start writing all willy-nilly, then stop and go over what you’ve written to make sure it’s hitting all the plot points (or “beats”) expected of your genre.
You might decide on an amazing ending for the story, then pause your writing every once in a while to make sure the plot is unfolding in that direction.
Pants-planning is like run-walking: you run a bit, then you walk a bit, and then you run again.
As a writer with ADHD, I find that I lose interest in writing my story when I try to plot out too much of it. (No more novelty or challenge, you see.) BUT I also often end up stuck in the Pit of Plot Confusion (aka “what should happen next?!”) when I don’t pause along the way to give the story structure some thought.
Ultimately, no matter whether you’re a pantser or a planner, your preferred style probably isn’t a choice, per se. Rather, it’s how you naturally work.
So if you’re a pantser at heart, there’s no need to feel inferior or disorganized. And you don’t need to buy a planner or pick up a pack of index cards to write a successful book.
But I do recommend trying your hand at pants-planning to set yourself up for success – and to save a whole lotta rewriting later.
Beth on Books 