![]() Maybe after a few chapters, the writer realizes that the character's brother is the real reason their family business failed, except they've already established that they and the brother were estranged after the death of their parents. The inverse problem could also happen-something is left out that you would need to cover later. It's easy to write about a series of events in detail that you only need in snippets for the larger story. The biggest of which is that not everything you write might be applicable. They tried to keep the family business going but failed, and now they're trying to get into a high-risk venture to save the business.ĭiving into a scene like this can go wrong in several ways. At least until the editing phase.Ĭonsider a chapter where the backstory is introduced for the main character, maybe something necessary to create a realistic character.Ī pantser may dive right in with a fleshed out history: Maybe the hero lost their parents. It's also important to ask, “How does this detail fit into the story and affect the rest of the pieces?”Ī pantsing writer may only handle one detail at a time, which makes seeing its connection to the whole story more difficult. When planning, it's not just about the inciting incident, the backstory, the central conflict, the climax, the character profiles or development, and any major details that advance the plot. In practical terms, “holistic” means to look at the pieces of something while considering one one's role as part of a whole. The word “holistic” is a bit of a buzzword these days. In this section, I will go into detail about the main reasons planning a book is a smart strategy, and how it can make your life easier as an author. However, no matter the planning method, certain principles remain the same. There are many reasons to plan a book, and planning may look different for each person. 4 Key Reasons Planning a Novel Will Benefit Your Writing Process Let's take a look at four key reasons you should plot your novel, and how these can help you speed up your writing while meeting your ultimate goal: writing a draft of a story that works. Plotting eliminates all these questions and more, because planning will let you see the book as a whole, recognize problems early, and make adjustements before you have fifty thousand words already down on paper. What if I realize I need a subplot but I'm too far in to develop one? What if I end the story before I hit my word count? There was always a nagging worry in the back of my mind: When I wrote without planning-pantsing every word-I actually found myself feeling more tied down. It gives us freedom to explore the story and character (and cast of characters!) without worrying where the next plot point is going to come from. Planning Brings FreedomĬontrary to my initial belief about outlining a book, I've now realized that planning is not restricting at all. I was proud of creative process, and felt the stories come to life instead of flattened. Not only that, I learned how to do it correctly-a method that motivated my creativity and ability to finish stories that had once been just an initial idea. It wasn't until a few years ago that I realized the value of a planning process and the efficiency it brought to my writing. ![]() Because of this, I went on pantsing for a long time. It felt terribly restricting to lay out an entire book and have to follow it step by step. By the time I reached the end of each book, I looked back at the bumpy, crooked path that got me there and felt rather unsatisfied. What followed was a desperate attempt to steer the plot back on course, rather like herding cats. They each started with a solid story idea, but usually after a few thousand words, I started to lose control of the story. I felt proud to have completed those books, but at the same time, I had mixed feelings every time I read them. Those NaNoWriMo sessions produced three 50K-word novellas and parts of two other books. I dove in, no planning stage, and just wrote from a basic idea. I finished NaNoWriMo a total of five times just pantsing. This article is about planning, but first, let me make it clear that I was once the ultimate pantser. Each post covers important writing strategies and techniques to help you do this, which you can read about in this introduction post. Edwin teaches writers how to write a fast first draft-in six weeks.
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