Is there any advantage to not planning?

[akitsukino]

The main people I hear defending this are pantsers. The biggest defense I get is that not having a rigid plan gives you the opportunity to explore new avenues for your story to go and let things happen more naturally. My favorite character interactions are usually written by people pantsing. Even pantsers seem to have rough outlines, so no one seems to completely deny a little planning. And planning can sometimes be an excuse to stall. But are there any other advantages to planning less?

[DiegoPalacios]

It depends of how good you are at improvising and if you can invent interesting stories and characters on the run. (and under pressure, in some cases, depending of your schesdule).

I think a balance is important, is neccesary some structure of the key events, but sometimes while writing or drawing, you may get better ideas that lead to a somewhat different path for your story.

[skicoak]

I think of it a lot like Jazz... you gotta really know music, and your instrument, before you think about doing free form, scat, or improvisational form.

[elyss]

I'm pro plan because it gives you the beginning, middle, and end. I write out the whole story and then go back and edit. By doing this, I can add a new layer of ideas knowing what will happen in the future to buff up the impact of events. For example, my story now has new characters and events that would never have happened if I'd gone straight in with what I initially had in mind, and there would have been some plot holes as well.

I think planning gets a bad rep for being too rigid when in fact, I feel it's more flexible and freeing than not planning.

[WillisAuthor]

It really comes back to the idea some people need to do another of studying before a test and others who can fly by the seat of their pants. On the same note, some folks get too wrapped up into plotting or even kill their mojo trying.

It also depends on the genre. Historical fiction can't avoid at least research diving as they go or some prep before. Whereas a romance comedy at a small town cafe you can sit down and have fun pantsing since you live in the same world as the characters.

Regardless, I plan and plot mine, but my characters always take me down paths I didn't see coming and I let those Sparks fly even if I have to rework the initial plot. Being g flexible is best.

[ISNEKO]

As a writer who plans almost nothing, I couldn't actually find a worthwhile benefit. I could only come up with why I hate planning, lol.

[Kann]

I have done some planning but also left myself some space to improvise here and there. I wouldn't go far without not planning at least the beginning and the end, but there were moments where I would get stuck If I were to strictly follow my plan. Most of my dialogue is pure improvisation but what needed to be said according to the plan was said. xD

[moop]

I think it largely depends on what kind of writer you are and what kind of story you’re writing. I come from a screenwriting background so I love to plan because I feel with a solid plan I’m able to tighten up the writing while actually being able to add more of what I want. Also I think it’s also good for plot heavy comics that only update once in a while so that every time you do update you’re furthering the story.

If you’re making a more episodic comic or something that’s more dialogue driven/about character interactions than anything then I can see how not planning might help you be more creative and let you write as the characters develop.

[McAmps]

Both have their pros and cons. Planning makes getting lost and writer's block less of issue, but then you can get bored since you already know what will happen.

Pantsing can be fun and exciting, but things can get messy. You might go on pointless tangents or write yourself into a corner. Revising might also be more of a pain.

I personally plan. I tried to pants a NaNoWriMo and wrote 50k of mostly filler. Idk if it's possible to pants a comic though. Now I'm curious, does anyone do that?

[amortelito]

I think that the lack of a formal plan is particularly beneficial when you are new at something and you don't know much about what you are dealing with.
When I started my comic I thought I had everything figured out. I had 3 episodes drawn in advance prior to publishing for the first time and planned other 6 episodes ahead.

As soon as I uploaded the first pages I noticed crucial things that were not going to work, for example, the rhythm, having a long arch, black and white pages, expect readers to remember things...

I threw everything to the trash and started over. I have a defined story and specific goals in each chapter but I prefer to improvise and wait for feedback and listen to the readers too.

[Wumbl]

It's possible to make an unplanned story / half-planned story work, but you must first be able to do it with a plan.
Your plan is like the framework for your project. You will want to use planning at first, to get a hang of story creation within the safer guides.

After you've done it enough times, though, you can make more improvisational projects and even make works that have almost no planning at all. (Although that depends on the work you're creating - it's easier to create something simplistic and light-hearted without a plan, but more serious or mature works need a lot more attention to detail and framework)

A good balance can be worked out - you don't want to over-plan everything after all, or you might lose the big picture. A good way to do it is to plan the main plot but improvise all the sub plots, filler and individual chapters/scenes to give yourself a bit more freedom.

TL;DR it depends on what you're making and how much experience you already have.

[LCT_m_a_d]

I feel like over-planning leads to burnout. When you plan less its easier to focus more on what you have and where you are currently progressing as opposed to treating it like it's just another job. If you work for a studio under contract thats a bigger deal but if your taking a more indie route over-planning usually creates more problems than it solves.

[TJSchongar]

A measure of planning is necessary, if only to keep building steam. Having a landmark to reach is important. But over planning can kill the possibility of something brilliant coming up and throwing you in a new direction.

[colinmooredraws]

I have no idea what a "pantser" is, but having absolutely no plan what so ever is an excellent way to set yourself up for failure. Maybe in a really short story, it would be okay. But in a really big project, no planning usually ends up with a pile of nonsense that goes nowhere. If you don't know what you're end goal is, and at least the highlights you need to hit along the way....how are you going to make a story that makes sense?

[Minerva_Matues]

I'm new to posting and sharing stories. I started my first novel today and shared two parts. I will be honest. I only planned a small thing and that was just a cemetery that my family owns and its on any map and always wrote other stories with it but I never shared a single piece. After sharing my first two parts today, I'm nervous no one will find them as I also don't know what to mark as Mature or not but just marked it all as Mature cause it will be a bit mental later on. That much I know. I don't know how. But I just know I want it to be and its not something that younger readers should be engulfed into. I'm basing some of the experiences by knowledge and some random things just off the top of my head. I'm one person NEVER to really "Plan" I just always been one to go with the flow since I always have things running in my head.

Please do check out my story Cemetery Solitude. I hate sounding desperate but... I just want to know peoples opinion on how I write and if it's okay.

[punkarsenic]

I have no idea what a "pantser" is,

its a term for someone who works 'by the seat of their pants' - ie, with little to no planning

personally im a meticulous planner - i like order, i like knowing whats coming, i like feeling in control. but for shorter, more experimental projects, having less planning can definitely lead you down some unexpected paths. when im stuck or slow to get started i like to do either a freewrite (no plans, just a prompt and ten minutes to go hogwild) or a freedraw (ive come to really like reduction monoprinting for this. i do plan them a bit but theyre very instinctive) - when youre feeling caged in your style and skill level, doing something spontaneous can be a great exploration tool to find the way forward

[JRHoch]

I've done planning and pantsing. Planning makes for a more cohesive story but also a greater commitment of time. If you're not sure what your level of interest is going to be over the long run, pantsing isn't so bad. It's perfect if you just want to experiment.

[Allyx]

I agree with what's been said already: you have more freedom to change the plot midway if you find something better, and you're less likely to get bored writing it because you feel the tension too, if you don't always know what will happen less.

You said that even pansters seem to have rough outlines, so their story isn't going to be completely "pansted." They will still have an idea of where they are going and the end goal, but will have more creative freedom with how their characters make it to the end.

[Rage_The_Dragoon]

I 'd say, stick somewhere in the middle

Both underplanning and overplanning can restrict a writing process.

overplanning can take the joy and spontanious nature out of writing because your path is so solid it doesn't leave room for any exploration.

and underplanning can have devastating effects later on with the most classic example being an overpowered villain that basicly can't be stopped because due to underplanning we was written way to powerful. resulting in the ever treacherious "dues ex machina" or "magic mcguffin" to solve the problem.

What I noticed is that it's better to have a few loose elements with some set rules and keep the details blurry to give yourself some wiggleroom. Once you write your characters and set their "rules"; by that I mean their "personality traits and motivations, pro's con's etc" The most important thing is that want your characters to be believable. You want to let those traits determine the path of whatever journey they face, and not trough some forceful outside push on the writers end.

This also count for the rules of your world and other aspects. like a magic system, government etc.
make some foundations for these and fill out the blurry lines when you reach them in your story.

[LordLacroix]

Having a plan doesn't really means you are stuck to it. Write is some kind of magical experience. Sometimes the characters chose what they want to do. Plan is only to organize things. But never to be thought as a straightjacket. It is simply amazing how your novel can diverge from a plan or add new things to it. Do plan but make it flexible and do not get too caged by it.