When I took a behind-the-scenes poll at The Winged Pen, I wasn’t surprised to find that my writing pals divided themselves almost evenly between plotters (those who plot out their stories before they begin writing) and pantsers (those who write by the seat of their pants with little or no advanced preparation). What I wasn’t prepared for was how many longed to write with the other method. Comments ranged from “Pantser, but forcing myself to plotter” to “Plotter … I tried to be a pantser …” One writer even said, “Plotter who’s a pantser wannabe!”

This got me thinking about my own writing. Although I strongly self-identify as a pantser, my process has evolved over time. I still grant myself the joy of pantsing my way through the first draft, but over the course of four novels, I’ve learned that my stories benefit from a careful analysis that has turned out to be much closer to a plotter’s approach than I’d like to admit.

I suspect I’m not alone. Many of my writing pals added caveats to their declaratives like the following: [I’m] pants all the way. Til I get stuck, then I’ll do a little plotting to get me unstuck. Another said, “I’m a pantser, but I write a query/pitch and have a full arc, inciting incident, midpoint and ending in mind before I write.”

With all the different options out there, how is a writer to know what works best? There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach, but for pantsers who suspect they may need a more formal process, I’ll share the hybrid model I’ve developed over the years. Use it as is, or fine-tune it to fit your personal writing style. Best of luck!

A Hybrid Pantser/Plotter Approach

1. Pants your way through a first draft.
2. Make an outline with 1-2 sentences per scene.
3. By the time your outline is complete, you’ll likely already have a whole boatload of ideas for revisions. Go ahead and incorporate those ideas into the outline in bold.
4. After the outline has been updated with an initial round of revisions, evaluate your story using tools such as Story Engineering and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. Make further changes to your outline (also in bold).
5. Write a query-like summary of the novel to make sure you’ve found the heart of your story (sometimes it helps to do this before step one if you have a general idea where your story might go, but it will almost certainly need a deep revision at this stage of the game).
6. Once you feel that the outline and the query are as solid as you can make them, send them to writing partners and (eventually) to your agent.
7. Consume large quantities of chocolate while waiting for feedback.*
8. Incorporate the feedback that resonates with your vision for your story into the outline in bold (with notes to yourself at the end, if necessary) and then:
9. Using the outline as a roadmap, start revising!

*It should be noted that every step of this process will go more smoothly if done while consuming chocolate.

Are you a pantser or a plotter? Do you have any helpful techniques or a hybrid process of your own to share? Please comment below!

Posted by: Jessica Vitalis

A jack of all trades, JESSICA VITALIS worked for a private investigator, owned a modeling and talent agency, dabbled in television production and obtained her MBA at Columbia Business School before embracing her passion for middle grade literature. She now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where she divides her time between chasing children and wrangling words. She also volunteers as a Pitch Wars mentor, with the We Need Diverse Books campaign, and eats copious amounts of chocolate. Her debut novel, NOTHING LIKE LENNON, is currently out on submission. She’s represented by Saba Sulaiman at Talcott Notch and would love to connect on Twitter or at www.jessicavitalis.com.