Writing Process Part 2: Plotter or Pantser?

One meaning of ‘writing process’ is the writing routine. The other meaning is how the writer approaches the work. Are they at the ‘figure everything out in advance’ (a plotter) end of the writing approach spectrum or are they at the ‘figure it by the seat of their pants’ (a pantser) end of the spectrum, or somewhere in the middle? Do they have to let an idea marinate for a while before they can get a handle on the story or does it come to them in a spark of inspiration?

Jennifer Egan describes how she lets a story idea marinate while she does preliminary research on different aspects of the idea before she even begins writing the story. She spent five years (not non-stop of course) educating herself on shipbuilding and the divers that worked on them during World War II as well as what the mobster world was like during that time. She knew that she wanted those three elements to be in Manhattan Beach and took the time to immerse herself in them.

Writers need to be thoroughly grounded in the context of the time period and setting of the story even if all the details don’t (and probably shouldn’t) make it into the story.  I love this approach. I’m more productive when immersed in the setting that I’m writing about – all those things the writer needs to know in order to provide a rich sensory experience for the reader. I have a time-travel quasi love story that I’ve been marinating like that.

Ursula K. Le Guin says that when she started the Earthsea stories (which she didn’t think would turn into a series), she drew a map of this fantasy world. I love this idea too because I picture everything in my mind and struggle if the picture isn’t complete. I have to know how far it is from Oak, Nebraska to Fort Kearney and where the Little Blue River lies in relation to both of those locations. I have to know the floor plan of the house the protagonist built for his future wife.

Jennifer Egan never worked in a shipbuilding yard during World War II but knowing all the nuances of that setting was important to providing context for Manhattan Beach, both for herself as she wrote the story and for the reader. Le Guin’s Earthsea world is complete fantasy but she needed to visualize that world so she could have the characters navigate in that world and draw the reader in. One of my mentors suggests to her students that they act out whatever it is their character is doing so they can feel the sensation of that action in their own body and, thus, more accurately convey what the character is doing. It seems to me that being well-versed in the background information is a complementary component to acting things out. For me, letting the story marinate by learning all I can about the story setting makes me more productive when I sit down to write that story because I’ve got a picture in my head for reference. 

There’s a place for the ‘pantser’ approach too. I know writers that start with an idea and figure it out as they go along, including doing whatever research they need. I have one writer friend that claims her characters write the story, she’s just the vessel they work through. It’s a little creepy but I understand what she’s saying. She makes sure the logical brain doesn’t get in the way of the creative brain.

I suspect that most of us fall somewhere in between on the ‘plotter/pantser’ spectrum. When I’m working on an idea for a novel, I work toward the plotter end. I write a detailed outline that lays out the main plot points and broadly sketches the setting and characters. I usually end up with 150 pages or so and it serves as a rough first draft. Then I go back and flesh it out by filling in the details and expanding on the characters and plot. My short story ideas tend to be more on the pantser end. The first short story I had published was written over the space of a weekend when I was angered by a news story saying that Congress was considering eliminating protections for pre-existing conditions from the Affordable Care Act.

One of the things that I love about the writing life is the flexibility in how you approach the work and the freedom to set a writing routine that can adapt to the changes in your life.