TO PANTS OR TO PLOT? THAT IS THE QUESTION by Penny Hutson

Please forgive the much-used quote in the title, but that is the question many writers face. And having tried and failed many times to complete an entire book until I outlined one, I fall on the side of outlining. Fortunately, you don’t have to choose one or the other. You can do a little of both, and I’ve recently learned this is called plotzing or plantsing.

Just to be clear, by outlining I simply mean a detailed summary of your story from beginning to end and a description of its characters, both written out in complete sentences. I am not referring to those tortuous devices required in many English classes with the Roman numerals, letters, numbers, or other bullets.

Pantsing, on the other hand, means writing without any pre-written guideline. The name comes from the saying of doing something “by the seat of your pants.” Sometimes, it’s called the discovery method. The writer starts with a general idea of a story or maybe a “what if . . .” question and begins writing. Often, the pantser does not know how the story will end, what characters will show up, or what the main conflict will be.

Many highly successful writers like Stephen King and Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James use this method. King, in fact, declares outlining a waste of time. Lisa Cron, in her book, Story Genius, explains that some people instinctively know what makes a good story, so “. . .the novel merely unfolds as they write, delightfully surprising them at every turn.” She concludes that these writers may think they are just writing blindly from one scene to the next and that “. . . that’s the nature of writing itself, rather than their nature.” Often these writers assume everyone else can do the same thing.

Unfortunately, not everyone can. How do we know if we need an outline or not? Simple. If you’ve written a complete book without it, you don’t need one. If you haven’t, and like me you’ve tried, you probably do.

If you’ve completed one or more books without an outline but can’t interest an agent/publisher or get many readers to buy it, perhaps an outline would have helped create a better story. Maybe not, but it’s worth considering.

Not too long ago, I heard a best-selling American author, whose name I now cannot remember, confess in a live interview with R. L. Stine that he would never write another book without outlining, even though he’d written many successful novels as a pantser in the past. To his surprise, once he started outlining, his rough drafts came together quicker and needed less editing. Those are some of the benefits of using an outline, even if you don’t need one.

I completed my first novel using the Snowflake Method which I now love. It allowed me to choose the level of outlining and how much detail to include. I did the lowest level or least required amount for this particular method. Once I had created all the major plot twists, conflicts, and obstacles leading up to the turning point and then resolution, I had a clear road map to complete a descent rough draft. I could have further outlined all the chapters and then each scene within the chapters, but I did not go that far. Essentially, I pantsed my way through each scene and later decided where to break each chapter. I don’t know how much of my next novel will be outlined, but I will certainly begin with one.

So, if you’re starting a book length work for the first or hundredth time, and you’re struggling to complete it, you might consider starting with at least a simple outline. I recommend the Snowflake Method, but there are many others. Just pick one and stick with it to the end of your story. Don’t give up when it gets hard or assume outlining isn’t for you. It may not be as easy or as fun as creatively writing from one page to the next, but I believe it will pay off in the end. It took me several weeks to produce the outline for my novel, but after decades of starting and never finishing a novel, I was thrilled with the results. By starting with a limited outline and then pantsing my way through the rest, I captured the best of both worlds. Find what works for you and finish that book!