…and Why I Will Remain a Pantser

Ahh, the whole plotting vs pantsing issue. We’ve all heard it, right? The pros and cons, what works and why. And yet most people tell you that you are capable of being a plotter and that you should, in fact, try! I haven’t found any books on why you should continue to write by the seat of your pants, or how you can write by the seat of your pants, but there’s plenty out there about plotting.

I’ve been writing for years, and at every single new book I try the plotting method. You’d think that after all this time I’d figure out that plotting doesn’t work for me. And yet, I yearn for it to work, because I always feel like the book will be written faster. Is it the whole grass is greener mentality?

The truth is, it doesn’t make it shorter for me. I’ve had this idea for a novel for years now, but I made the mistake of trying to plot it all, and now it sits on my hard drive just waiting for the day I pick it up again. I hope that 2016 will be that year, and I wonder why this happened. Some would say it wasn’t ready, or it wasn’t meant be, but I say I overthought the story. Usually when this happens, I have to start completely over.

So I took it upon myself to figure out why plotting doesn’t work for me, and although I haven’t figured it all out, I think I figured out the logistics.

Plotting is too structured.
I’m in awe of those who can do it, but I’ve never been good with puzzles, and plotting is too much like a puzzle to me. Even though the way I write my scenes and then piecing them together is like a puzzle, it’s a different kind of puzzle. It’s like comparing a 1000 piece puzzle to a 100 piece puzzle, or a crossword to a word search. Okay, maybe not, but still. I’ve never had enough patience to do 1000-piece puzzles. Heck, 100 pieces is almost too much. Can I count to ten, please?

Plotting makes me think too much.
Like I mentioned before, if I plot, I overthink the story. I think too much about it, and it loses the gem it could have been. I’ve thought so much about it that I lose all the emotional connection to it, and it becomes like a long highway where I’m just trying to get to the end. To home. I often wonder if it’s because plotting uses a different brain wave, but I haven’t figured that out about myself yet. I do have tunnel vision, after all.

Plotting makes me lose interest in the story.
I lose interest after I plot my story. By the time I’m done, I feel like it’s done, even when it doesn’t have a real beginning, middle, and end. I love fleshing out my characters, love creating character collages, and love writing down scene notes. But plotting just over complicates the mess that is my book, and I give up. I love discovering things as I write it out, and even though you don’t have to stick to your exact plot, I still lose interest in it if I plot.

Plotting doesn’t feel creative.
Not to me. Again, I’m intrigued by those who do plot, and I know those who do it consider it a craft. It’s a huge talent. Do plotters ever just try to write by the seat of their pants? I’ve always wondered. I know it’s a creative talent, but for me it’s too much structure and routine. I absolutely love geography and can read maps, but I’ve never been good with directions.

For pantsers trying to be plotters, it just doesn’t work.
If you’ve made it work, I am intrigued and would love to know what you’ve done! But I give up! I will remain a pantser, who might plot a little after a few chapters are written, but then continues to pant along the way!