It’s not what you think.

I’d never heard of pantsing until I joined NaNoWriMo while writing Drifting in a Dream. If you’re not familiar with the term, it refers to people who write as they go – or by the seat of their pants, so to speak. This is in contrast to plotters – the people who have the shape of the story and world worked out before they start typing.

I think writing seems easier than it is until you actually sit down to do it. At that point, you have to decide whether you’re going in with a full plan, a partial plan or a dream.

All authors have their own methods, I suppose, but some clearly favour one approach over the other. Suzanne Collins is a good example of a plotter, along with my favourite author, Anthony Horowitz, who has spoken about making sure the solutions to his mysteries are known in case he doesn’t finish the book.

Stephen King has previously expressed a dislike for plotting, while George R. R. Martin describes himself as a gardener – letting things grow and then pruning them.

That’s a good way to put it and probably describes my approach in a nicer way than I would.

I lean towards being a pantser.

That’s not to say I have no idea about the story when I start writing it. I usually have a pretty clear idea of the ending and certain scenes that are going to be part of the story, but connecting those scenes is where my lack of planning comes back to bite me.

I have tried setting out a story plan in advance, believing it would help me write quicker and avoid procrastinating, but some of my favourite scenes come from creating as I go. Thinking on the spot. Problem solving. Letting one idea lead naturally into another.

Writing it all out beforehand takes some of the fun out of it for me.

Nevertheless, there are pros and cons to each method.

Plotting

✓ Character arcs are clear
✓ Character backstories are established
✓ You have a timeline
✓ The world is built in detail, helping keep geography and rules consistent

✗ Less space to experiment
✗ It can feel a little paint-by-numbers

Pantsing

✓ Characters develop as you write
✓ The plot stays flexible
✓ The world grows alongside your characters
✓ You’re less confined by predetermined rules or plot points

✗ Keeping track of the timeline can be difficult
✗ It’s easier to procrastinate when you hit writer’s block
✗ Remembering every tiny detail becomes a nightmare when you’re writing a series

Most writers probably fall somewhere between the two approaches.

It wasn’t until I started writing my second Power Wielders book that I really noticed the negatives of pantsing. I needed continuity across the series and this ultimately led me to creating a world bible.

Not for future plots so much as a record of what had already happened.

You may be thinking that I should know all of this inside out as the author, but I write by imagining scenes. They play out in my mind like films but are fluid like dreams. The version I write down and eventually publish might not be the first – or tenth – way I’ve seen that scene play out.

A world bible helps.

It’s especially useful when I’m editing. I might pants my way through the first draft, letting the characters lead the story, but when I’m editing, I channel my inner plotter.

At that stage, I need a strict timeline of events. I need character descriptions to match previous books, locations to stay consistent and all those tiny details I casually threw into an earlier chapter to still make sense hundreds of pages later.

So, in the end, my approach lands somewhere in between.

A clearer structure going in would surely save me hours of frustration when editing, but where’s the fun in having it all planned out?

I was surprised to discover that this was my writing style. I’m generally an organised person, so I thought I’d be a plotter through and through.

If you’re a writer, does the way you write match the way you approach everything else, or are you the complete opposite?

Let me know what you think!