Flying by the seat of one's pants...

Recently, I gave a talk to a group of fellow writers on the topic of how I plot my novels. Of the two extremes of how to plot a book, I declared myself to be ‘pantster’ rather than the ‘planner’.

I don’t profess to like the phrase, ‘pantster’. It is a clumsy shortening of the saying ‘to fly by the seat of one’s pants’, which of course implies that one is taking risks, seeing how things go, reacting in the moment to circumstances. This approach is supposedly in opposition to the alternative method which involves a detailed, considered period of setting out the story in advance, planning each step the characters take, leaving it just short of writing the narrative itself. In this ‘keep it simple’ world, these two choices are talked about as the only options available and as if they are mutually exclusive - a common question amongst writerly circles being one of ‘are you a pantster or a planner?’

But it is a false dichotomy.

The world is full of subtlety and nuance. I believe there are many options and possibilities in the middle of, and outside of these two options.

I suspect that by stating this, I am merely confirming to all that I am, by definition, a go-with-the-flow ‘pantster’.

And, to be honest, I struggle with the label.

Part of my grumble with being a ‘pantster’ is that I don’t recognise myself as a risk-taker. Generally speaking, I think my way around possibilities before I commit to them. There is not much in my life that I have not considered thoroughly before I have acted – even if it looks like, to those around me, that I am capable of acting rashly. I never claim that my consideration is without fault - even with lots of prior thought, things can still go wrong.

Nevertheless, I have always thought of myself as a cautious, pre-thinker, yet, the more I engage with my dream of writing books, I find this is not true. My writing is a highly personal act, close to my vulnerable heart with all the concomitant danger of exposure it brings with it, and yet I am steadfastly unable to plan story plots ahead of time, or stick to it if I do.

I have tried to plan out a full storyline; sketch each of the characters that will appear, both major and minor, and know before I begin to write the story itself how it will end. I have failed at this on every book I have written, so far. Ask me how my work in progress is going, my answer is always likely to be “umm, okay, I think. I mean I’m not entirely sure what’s going to happen next, but I think I know the general direction.”

Generally, I know the main character and their immediate interactions. I am able to state roughly what the story will be about – it’s central theme. Writing my first novel began with just five minutes of scribbling, determining the main character as James, that he had a terminal illness at the age of just 17, that he had a magical mystical spirit friend who was called Marcham and that James’ sister, Lyra, was ten-years younger but possessed of a surety of spirit way beyond her years. And that was it. For the next two books in the series, I had more to work on at their respective starts. But for each, I did not really know what would happen until I was typing the words upon the screen.

For my fourth story, my current work in progress, some aspects of the main character have appeared on the screen in front of my eyes which I had no previous inkling about until the words were there. In this manner, the characters and plot lines fill in.

‘Pantsting’ is thought of as a ‘risky’ way of writing a book – because there is a much greater probability that I will head off down plotline cul-de-sacs and have to do a lot of reversing and re-work. There’s also the possibility that the general direction I am headed in is wrong; uninteresting and mundane. This risk would not be so likely to occur if I had planned in advance. My chances of writing the book faster and more efficiently (less editing needed) would also have been increased. I understand all of the logic and sense of being a planner.

The thing is, I just cannot do it. I am compelled to slow-down and unfold each piece of the story in the time it wants to be revealed. I do get anxious about the “what is it about?” and “are you sure it’s going in the right direction?” questions, but this anxiety never changes how the story is given to me. I am forced to relax, enjoy the journey rather than simply hurry to the end. It is, it seems, how I am able, or meant, to write.

And, if you think about it, so much of life’s reality is like this. Our well-laid efforts and strategies are at best just good guesses.

All the guru’s, life-coaches, friends and colleagues’ expertise one feels is important to seek out and know in detail – the best practices and the ten-secret-tips – they are all just a regurgitation of that person’s own best-guess experiences. All of us, are just simply trying stuff; doing something to move us towards our goal, seeing how it goes and then trying something else.

This is true, irrespective of if you are a ‘planner’ or a ‘pantster’ in life.

Gradually, I am learning to enjoy the process of patience, discovering what it is a particular story tells me it needs. I have added tools and techniques to my retinue over the years – all of which help me to be better at my craft. But underlying all of this is a fundamental truth, which is that for my act of creation, writing (but really, I mean life), I am best able to perform if I relax and allow the wind to take me where it desires. All I have to do is keep an eye on the instruments and conditions and then enjoy the wonderful discovery unfolding before me.

So, perhaps we are all better for enjoying our pants! Sounds like a good way to live life, don’t you agree?

Rachel x

P.S. The Hope of Us, Beyond Veils, Book 3:  May I I ask, if you've grabbed yourself a copy, to let me know what you think of Mona and her answer to the question; can love overcome a legacy of abuse? Or even better - let lots of other potential readers know by writing up a quick review on Amazon. It is one of the most useful things you can do to help my writing career. Thank you. If you haven't yet got a copy, then you're in luck, click here to be taken to the Amazon page which will happily enable you to purchase a copy straight away!

P.P.S. Audiobook lover? The first and second books in the Beyond Veils Series - 'The Point of Me' and 'The Truth of Her' - are available as Audiobooks. You can download it from Amazon, Audible or the Apple Store.  Get 'em now, here.

P.P.P.S I have a podcast too! Published on Apple Podcast - it is called "Letters from an Author" and features me, reading aloud these letters that I send to you, my subscribers, my friends. You can download and listen to the episodes - about 10 minutes or less per episode, because I know how busy we all are - here. I had great fun recording them, I hope you enjoy listening.

P.P.P.P.S Also worthy of mention is that the full series collection has just been published as a single eBook - and at a significant discount on the total 3 separate e-book purchase price. Get 'The Beyond Veils Series Collection' for just £9.99 here.