Writing

When it comes to being a writer, you’re usually a “pantser” or a “plotter”.

Or you can throw your papers defiantly in the air and refuse both titles and be a “plantser”, which means you have the best and worst of both worlds. And you cry a lot. But don’t we ALL.

The whole pantsing vs plotting debate is usually conducted as a small war amongst writers. You either fervently hate the idea of being boxed in by an outline; you need freedom to let your characters roam and inspiration gnaw at your bones and guide your pen. Or you want organisation, outlines, firm goals, and books you can foreshadow and set up plot twists.

Both are valid. Both will, as we’ve already established, make you cry.

I am a hardcore plotter. I know this. But do you know what I’ve been doing lately?

Yes. I’ve been pantsing.😑 (If you hear a dull thunking sound, oh nevermind, that’s just ME banging my head against the floor.) I thrive with outlines. I usually write ones that are 22,000 words long and basically a Draft Zero or a “script” where later I’ll come back and properly fill in the gaps. Outlining allows me to write fast, fierce, and free. 30K in a day? We gotcha. It’s a roadmap. It’s controlled. I don’t get writer’s block. I know what happens next (something that’s incredibly important to me).

“Ok c.g.,” you say, tossing a corn chip into your mouth, “you’ve made a pretty good case for your love of plotting. are you going to just reminisce pitifully or tell us why you and your outlines divorced?”

Oh mEGHUSGH I am going through a hard time with this break up, I swear.

I’ve had really bad writer’s block for a long time.

And when you get stuck, my top advice is always: shake up what you’re doing. I couldn’t plot. I couldn’t move forward. I couldn’t see the story I needed to tell. So I decided to just force myself to write, to get back into it.

I still plot. The plotting is just 99% in my head and 1% on a sticky note that says “DO NOT FORGET THE KNIFE SCENE” which, ya know, in 3 weeks I will yell at myself for not being more specific about that. I imagine my scenes before I write them. I’m a plotter deep in my soul. But I’ve been pansting so so much of my books and it’s stressed me out SO SO MUCH…

…and I’ve also written one of my best works this year because of it.

You know what? My opinion is 😒 @ myself at this point.

However it leads me to analyse…

which is better? pantsing vs plotting

There’s never going to be a definitive answer for this, but I want to list the pros and cons I’ve experienced while doing both! And yes…these are pros and cons for me, just me. 🤗

PROS

• It was definitely helped shake me out of a funk where I “couldn’t write” unless I knew 100% of my story. And since my creativity had been misfiring…I just wasn’t starting at all.
• Look, you DO surprise yourself and it is quite exciting.
• It feels more relaxed in a way, because if you change something in the spare of the moment, you don’t destroy a 20,000-word outline you just spent a month writing.
• I’ve come up with some fiercely brilliant things that I had NOT planned until I let the characters dictate the story. I am proud okay. This rebel-plotter is proud.

CONS

• There are times when your character drops a “big plot twist reveal” and the secondary characters gasp! And you gasp! None of us KNEW. This is a surprise 🗣for us 🗣all 🗣. And while it makes for some dramatic twists, my main opinion is always: “What the actual frickity frack am I doing next.”
• Getting stuck. Having no idea what to do next. Panicking, just a little.
• When things aren’t well thought through, you can get to the middle of a manuscript and realise you need to rewrite the whole. freaking. thing.
• You just have no idea what is coming up. Could be death, marriage, taxes. I don’t even know. 😑

PROS

• Way way less writer’s block when drafting.
• You can write cleaner drafts because you don’t write yourself into black inescapable holes.
• FORESHADOWING!!! It’s much easier to pull off succinctly if you know 100% what is going to happen.
• For me, there’s always a calmness into delving into a draft you know how to end. You can organise your characters’ themes, motivations, and arcs brilliantly ahead of time.
• You can do those Walls of Crazy. Hush this is a Big Aesthetic pro.
• It’s easier to write a blurb or synopsis before hand.
• If you’re a traditionally published author, or working with an agent, it’s handy to pitch them a solid synopsis BEFORE you begin writing, therefore saving time in case they reject it.
• “Plotter” just sounds better than “pantser”. I mean bold of whoever invented that term to think we are wearing pants.

CONS

• For me? Absolute procrastination: if I can’t get the outline “right”, then I won’t write at all.
• It can be so galling to write a whole intense outline and then…divert from it and have it be a wasted wreck. It’s even worse than finding a very old, forgotten zucchini in the back of your fridge.
• So much “Pre-writing”, it feels like you’ll never start.
• I never felt boxed in by my outlines or left without “room for inspiration”, but lately I’d been getting better ideas while I wrote, instead of before I wrote. Again, so much wasted work for these intense outlines.
• I still got writer’s block so what then!!!!!! is the point of all things, Samwise!!!!!
• It started feeling like a chore. My heart is sore. I used to crave the feeling of plotting. I’d basically be bored of writing before I got to the actual writing part.

It’s hard to let yourself change methods when you write. It’s hard to feel brave enough to experiment.

I’m letting myself recover from a very deep depression spiral, which left me unable to write effectively for nearly 2 years. I’ve got a lot of stage-fright to unpack from being published (it is my dream!!! but also affected me in ways I didn’t anticipate!!!). Despite loving plotting and knowing it was MY method: my writing wasn’t working.

Pantsing isn’t a cure-all for me either. I just wrote 30K of a draft I need to now rewrite from scratch. And quite honestly, I still plot out every scene mentally and know where my characters are going for at least that chapter. I’m also generally working off old/discarded drafts. So I’m knitting together a thousand threads in my head, not starting each day with no idea what might happen on my keyboard.

(I know exactly what’s going to happen to my keyboard. BROWNIE CRUMBS AND TEARS.)

My ultimate and professional opinion on plotting vs pantsing is: they both suck.

And they both work. 😂I know which makes me calmer (plotting) and I know which has been working for me lately (pantsing) and I know which one I can’t spell (continually, this whole post, I’ve been typing it panster).

It’s possible writing is just annoying, fulfilling, frustrating, and incredibly rewarding. All of them. Why, world. I’m exhausted.

| what do you say? |

I’d love to know if you’re a plotter vs pantser? have you tried both? do you change your traditional routine if you get stuck?

In a shocking turn of events, writing is very hard and it is a lot easier to take a nap.

And look, I’m admitting this when I’ve written 30-full-length novel drafts, had 2 books published by Hachette, and am neck-deep in currently editing a draft that is 100,000-words long. I write a lot and it is, still, very hard.

“c.g., listen,” you say seriously between bites of toast because I always mention food on this blog so you’re getting a headstart, “you are doing a very terrible job at talking about motivation.”

I am terrible. 😌 But I have only just begun, so sit tight.

I get asked a lot “how do you stay motivated to write?” and it is a valuable question that I think about a lot, but usually answer very badly.

“Uhh, I just do?”

Not particularly helpful.

The truth is: I want to be an author, and that want usually outweighs my need to merge languidly with the carpet. But there are still a lot of smaller things that all tie into my need (and want) to keep myself motivated to write. Because a lot of the time my #1 thought is: “I DON’T WANNA.”

So I thought it would be most helpful to list them for you and maybe you’ll find a trick or two that will give you that extra motivating shove.

And if it doesn’t, let me know and I’ll give you a shove 🤗 off a small cliff hehe

➢ treat writing like a job

I do have the absolute privilege (backed with an intense 10 years of unpaid hard work) of being a published author. I can walk into a bookstore and pick A Thousand Perfect Notes and The Boy Who Steals Houses off the shelf because I finished them. THAT is motivating.

But ok ok, say you haven’t gotten there yet. You’re a green author and don’t know what you’re doing. Or maybe you’re an old-hand author, been writing for years but you never seem to get where you want to go. Maybe you’re in the middle. Either way, you can still consciously choose to treat writing like something to prioritise.

I haven’t been prioritising my blog recently (SORRYYYY) and you can tell. Sporadic posting. More reviews. I keep using emojis because writing is hard. (Spoiler: you can’t???? use emojis??? In your novel??? Shocked and dismayed.) I used to treat blogging like a job and I murderously protected my time that I needed to put into it. I’ve swapped and am channelling that to writing (more important for me right now; but I’m not quitting blogging!). Sometimes you have to make the conscious effort to do this: prioritise writing, make it non-negotiable that you have to work on it.

And stop calling yourself ASPIRING. You are an author. If you want to be published, you need to treat yourself like a professional, not a potato.

➢ Make yourself

You can’t just NOT show up to work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Look sometimes I don’t want to write. I hardcore procrastinate. Instagram is currently teasing me for #ProcrastiBAKING, and tbh I am well fed but there are no chapters written. 

But I just make myself. I write a chapter even when I don’t feel like it.

“But won’t it be bad quality???” you say.

Maybe? Maybe not? If you only wait until you’re maddeningly inspired in a hot rush, you won’t get much writing done. Some of my best chapters have come in the midst of a writing session where I told myself to work.

➢ Actually figure out why you don’t wanna

If I whine “I don’t wanna” there’s usually a reason tucked behind it. And not just that I am a lazy bucket. Because I’m not?? I’m a hardcore SlytherPuff overachiever and I want to work HARD and also achieve EVERYTHING. 🙌🏻Except….for when I don’t. My top reasons for not wanting to write are usually:

• I’m scared I’m writing it wrong and it’s not good enough. (Translation: self doubt and anxiety. Usually the fix is to tell myself to shut up and finish the draft anyway. You get better by writing more.)
• I don’t know how to do this scene. (Ok fair, don’t write yet. Purposefully brainstorm. I go for walks. Unless I can visualise the scene beforehand, I usually get really stuck on it.)
• It’s gonna be haaaaard work. (Translation: yer a lazy, Potter. The cure is to just go do it)
• I’m no longer invested in what I’m doing. (This rarely happens to me…because I don’t start a project unless I’m obsessed with it and have been for a looooong time. But if it does happen, I figure I need to backtrack or reboot this draft.)
• I’m tired. (Translation: burn out is here, can you take a day off? refill your creative well? Make a new playlist, read some books.)
• It takes me so long to get into the zone that when I finally get there, writing time runs out and I have to stop. (Big mood. I am still waiting for a fix for this. But sometimes it genuinely comes down to just accepting your process and STOP comparing yourself to how other writers do things.)

➢ Bribes 🎶 bribes 🎶 bribes

Hey no shame if you need treats to get through. I legit bribed myself with chocolate last night to edit 3K. I even edited it down to 2.5K to get to the chocolate faster. (Which is actually a good thing because this current WIP is far too long.) But do not underestimate the power of the treat. Do you deserve cake? YOU DO.

Obviously food rewards aren’t always helpful (for like, lol, your waistline) so bargain with yourself to buy a new book when you finish a draft, or watch a specific TV show, etc. (I get to watch Stranger Things 3 when I finish this draft.) If you finish this chapter, you get to scroll Twitter for 10mins. Or go hardcore and tough like: yOU GET LET OUT OF YOUR CHAINS IN THE BASEMENT IF YOU WRITE, DAMMIT, GIZELLDA.

➢ Make sure you’re writing what YOU want

I find it very motivating when I actually am proud of my work. When I want to write because I can’t wait for that next delicious scene. It might seem obvious, but sometimes we need to stop, breath, and consider if we’re writing what excites us. Are you facing putting your characters on a long desert roadtrip and you’re like “bleh don’t wanna write today”?? Consider it’s the SCENE you don’t want. If it bores you, it will bore the reader.

I once heard an author say leave yourself tasty cookie crumbs through your plot. (I feel like it was Susan Dennard but I’m not sure?? Correct me if you know!) Make sure there’s always a scene coming up that you’re 😍dying😍 to write. For me it’s usually a bantery scene.

➢ get a writing buddy

Writing can feel so lonely…but it honestly doesn’t have to be! I have incredible writing friends and we talk craft and swap chapters and yell encouragement at each other. We hype each other up as well as listen to the low times. We get competitive and keep up our daily word counts. This year has been so rough and low for me…I pretty much wouldn’t be working on my current draft without @cosyreads encouragement.😭💛

Now, yes, it can be hard to find someone to be a really close writing friend with you. But if you do = invaluable. I think this is why things like NaNoWriMo work so well! It feels like one big writing club.

➢ sticker charts

This is also a direct result of @cosyreads 😌she uses sticker charts which inspired me to use a calendar (I think Schwab also does this too). Right now I’m ticking off working days on a calendar in my notebook (it is a pretty calendar which is important) and you’d be amazed at how inspiring it is to not want to break a streak.

➢ focus on your ultimate goals

Write them down if you have to. But what do you want? Do you want to be a published author? Then 🗣 write 🗣 the 🗣book. Motivation for me boils down to: it’s really rather addictive to see my books on the shelf. I want that again and again. So I need to write. Even when writing sucks for no good reason. (And sometimes that happens too!) But I most desperately want finished books and to have success.

Finishing a book can be the hugest motivation. Keep your focus on that.

| what do you think? |

tell me your tips and tricks to keep motivated? do we have any of the same methods? have you ever realised you’re not writing the book that excites you?