Pants vs Plots

Last week, if you didn't notice, we had a lot of talk about characters.  I thought we'd continue with trends and go into talking this week about plotting.  Now, this won't always happen, mostly because it was random last week and this week I planned this, but I thought it would be a nice little continuation.  I'm more than happy to also do a week about world building and please feel free to comment below if you would like that sooner rather than later.

However, this week, there's plotting.  Plotting can involve a lot of things.  Making character sketches is a form of plotting, even if you don't think it is, because you're thinking out ways that your character has a form and background.  World building, even if you're using the real world around you is another form of plotting.  So there are a lot of little ways that you can plot without even knowing it.  For the purpose of this post, we're going to talk about the traditional form of plotting, an outline, versus going by the seat of pants, aka pantsing.

Disclaimer: There is nothing wrong with either.  I have done both and both have strengths and weaknesses.  I've even done a hybrid form of pants and plotting, which I will explain, but I am not bashing one way or another.  Both have their place in the writing world and both can work and not work for you.  That out of the way, let's talk.

Pantsing is exactly what it sounds.  You are going by the seat of your pants, wherever you want to go, and you write your plot.  This frees you up to write the story as it comes to you and it is quite freeing.  You don't have a road map and you can go all over the place.  This is really nice if you have these great characters and just want to throw them into a situation then go from there.  So, character A and character B walk into a bar and they can meet up.  They can get in a fight and then go through how their lives intersect before possibly getting together in the end.  One of the more popular ways to pants is to take on dares from other people to further your novel, like include a trip to a taco bar, and go from there.  Like all things, there's also challenges to this because you have to be self disciplined.  You have to be willing to just write, no matter what, and hope that you're connecting all your plots in the end.  I feel this also needs the most editing after you've completed a draft.

Plotting is also the same thing as it sounds.  You create an outline, a road map, where you go from point A to point Z with your characters.  To take the example of the two characters walking into a bar, you'd probably have all the reasons stated for why one of the characters are there.  You have a setup and a background and probably a few chapters before that character walks into the bar.  This is great and, while there will still need to be editing, there's less chance for having to edit for stray plot holes.  However, you're locked into what you're doing.  You can't really have a random taco bar meeting that you would if you were pantsing unless it's already in your outline.  You are set in that outline that you have put forward and you need to get through your plot.

Now, there is a third way, which I think a lot of plotters do that's a hybrid of plotting and pantsing.  Basically, you have the outline, but it's a fluid one.  Say you like the idea about the random taco bar meeting and you have a place where it could go in your outline.  So, you put it in and, while writing, character C becomes involved and you have a love triangle.  You go back to your outline and change out what happens in the chapters going forward.  The outline, while still your road map, is now changed and possibly for the better.  This might be the way for you, if you do need that bit of plotting, but want the freedom of pantsing.  I've found that it helps, especially when I get in the middle of a story to completely change a character, and it helps to make sure that all the tendrils of the story still goes together to make a complete story.

There are a million other ways to write and make sure that your story is complete.  What's the way that you decide to go forward with writing your novel?  Do you plot, pants, or something in between?  Feel free to leave comments below and, until next time, keep on writing.