Plotting vs. Pantsing

[BlunderingAlbatross]

I'm a pantser and entirely unapologetic about it Not saying it's objectively better than plotting, just that it's better for my disorganised self. I also find that if I'm trying to squish my writing into a framework it stresses me out a bit, though in all fairness I daydream so much I'll end up plotting a bit whilst zoning out and have an idea of where I want things to actually go.

TBH the only things I ever set in stone are when I come up with a character or a bit of lore, I'll make notes of everything I can about them just so they at least stay consistent if/when they come up again.

[wh_vigo]

Welcome to Tapas, @Amadeus.

I think I'm half and half in regards to plotting vs. pantsing, but have begun a gradual transition towards the former.

In earlier stories, I did a lot of pantsing. But there were times when I'd painted myself into a corner with the plot or had difficulty (re)connecting events as things developed, which slowed my writing. For quick, short stories (I'm writing a horror anthology), I found pantsing to be the most effective -and fun- if I wanted to create something with a visceral, splatter-punk feel to it.

As I'm starting to experiment with other types of horror and lengthier stories, I'm plotting more regularly with the exception of dialogue, I just let it flow naturally. I edit it down later and stick to "less is more" rule where I can. Each approach definitely has its pros and cons. Once in a while, I just walk the tightrope.

How do you find this site so far?

[Hazumirein]

I usually start out pantsing and then go back and do some outlining once I have a sense of what the story is. Actually, I usually start out with some semi-developed characters and maybe a vague plot idea and then just kind of...let them write themselves for awhile and see what direction they seem to want to go in. By that point I usually have some major plot points in mind and I just need to figure out how to connect the dots, which is where the outlining comes in.

[NellieVP318]

I know I did both in my story. Pantsing for the dialogue parts but outlining for the plot beats for the story. It really depends on the story through I might change it around for the second part of my novel series.

[Prisim]

If you're new to writing i definitely recommend to try both methods. You absolutely won't know what kind of writer you are until you do. There is also no right or wrong way to write (aside from obvious grammatical structure LOL)

I've done both and I found that I'm just a natural pantser. Even the story I fully plotted out I still got to points in the story where I was all "Hmm, what if I did this instead" and pansted my way through it. It's just what feels natural to me and I know that any plot holes or issues can be fixed in edits. Now if I ever do those edits is debatable (because I probably won't ever publish so the majority of my books will be one draft and done) but plot issues still can be fixed so I just don't worry about it.

What I will do is the closer I get to the end (like we're taking 3 or 4 chapters away) I'll make myself bullet points of things i want to cover through to the end just to keep me from rambling too much. And if I get stuck along the way then I'll spend some time plotting it out. I've written myself into a couple of corners that make me sit there and think "Ok...how do I get out of this in a way that makes sense to the story?" So i'll spend a few days (or hours if it's not a big hole) until I figure it out.

[JoshRaid]

I tried to combine them, having a general idea of plot points but not the exact scenes.

[skelton_porter]

I've also seen the analogy stated as gardener vs architect.

I generally have an overall (but often vague) idea of where I want a piece to go, but I don't like to plan out the details too much in advance. Sometimes that results in writing sections I end up throwing out later. Sometimes it ends up being a different story than what I originally intended to write (sometimes a better story). But often enough, it allows enough room for the characters to kind of take over and give it a life of its own that would have been lacking had I tried to force it all to conform to a 78 point outline. I like to leave room for the characters and story to grow as needed.

[Nyerelia]

I plot mostly because if I didn't writer's block would get the best of me and I would never finish my stories. I do leave space for myself to improvise details as I go, though. Most times they are simply for enrichment but sometimes I'll find myself liking one of those a lot and developing it, which leads to more plotting to make sure it fits well with the rest of the plot

[Amadeus]

Yeah, it is probably dependent on the individual author and their creative process. I also have those significant lines that pop into my mind too

[Amadeus]

I used to do a lot more worldbuilding than I do now, too. I think that kind of in-depth fictional culture designing is fun, but it is so time consuming. Some people are also good at designing worlds and settings, but not good at structuring coherent narratives, and vice-versa. I totally agree that it is tricky to translate a well thought-out world into a story easy to digest as a reader.

[Amadeus]

I am glad you are getting into story writing! I hope my post was not too confusing. I did not mean to use a bunch of loaded terms that require background information

[Amadeus]

Oh yeah, that is definitely the approach to take I think. Especially if you are writing character-centric dramas or romances, letting the characters' personality and motivations drive the plot instead of the writer is essential.

[Amadeus]

Rough outlines are usually helpful, but winging it lets you write the kinds of twists and turns you would personally enjoy reading yourself. I agree

[Amadeus]

That is interesting. So you probably write out bullet points for arcs and then the smaller arcs sort of fit together into a larger narrative? That is an approach I have not tried yet, but I have seen it done successfully in lots of media (comic serials and shonen manga come to mind).

[Amadeus]

For the story I am posting now, it is exactly the same situation you described. I am editing chapters a bit, but everything was written two years ago.

Slice of life (or just a modern, realistic setting )certainly seems like the easiest way to make a good pantsed story. Maybe it is because the worldbuilding is done for us already? But even with the pansting approach, I think we can carefully construct a narrative that does not just feel like a series of "and then" statements. I am curious how many other authors are pantsing stories they publish here.

[Amadeus]

No need to apologize for pantsing stories! It is just as valid of an approach, no judgement here.

I also agree that keeping notes is important, otherwise I would probably forget stuff later.

[ScarletDemon]

I like to see it as I made lists for point A, B and C, but space between them I just write however I feel. Imagine a piece of paper with three points drawn on it marked A,B and C and were told to connect them with a single line: most people would just draw straight lines connecting them, in terms of a story that would be a very short, cut and dry 100% plot focused story with nothing else, I like to have some fun in how I draw the line between the points.
Side-stories within the major one evolve and develop as the story progresses, but because you're always on track to that next point, you never hit a spot in the story where it seems dry, drawn-out or boring. You do have to be warry of going off on tangents though.

[Amadeus]

Less is more is so true. The whole design of this site actually speaks to that. I find that some people judge stories by word count elsewhere, so I appreciate that Tapas designed the platform to promote an episodic, brief, almost screenplay-like feel with the writing. It definitely meshes with my style. Sometimes I will have long chapters or chunks of writing, but I try to avoid long winded tangents (I had to restructure something to publish it in my story for the character count, but I doubt anyone will notice).

Overall, I like the site, but it is kind of hard to find the sorts of things you would be interested in reading. I wish there were more distinct tags, for example. My story is a crime thriller in addition to other genres, but there is no category for that sort of writing.

[Amadeus]

Yeah, I also like thinking "what would the character do in this situation?" rather than just deciding everything immediately. Outlining is very helpful, I agree.

[Amadeus]

I wonder if that will give the second part of your series a different feel? Could be interesting.