I thought I’d tell you a little about how I set about writing my books and stories today, but first, for those non-writers amongst you I’d better make a few things clear. Writers ignore this as you already know it.
There are two–no, three–kinds of writers.
First are the plotters. They are the ones who write like you were taught at school, setting out to write an outline of their work before beginning. These people might write just a simple outline, but others go much farther and write a chapter by chapter outline. They search for the Inciting incident, decide where the first plot point is going to come, and all the other things we are told a good story needs. Then they refer to this as they write. It helps them to stay focused on the plot and not wander off.
Second are what are known as pantsers. These writers write ‘by the seat of their pants’. They don’t write a plan but simply start writing and see where the story goes. Sometimes they are called ‘discovery writers’.
The third type is a combination of the two, sometimes known as plantsers. These writers don’t have a massively detailed plan, but will often have a very general outline which they sort of follow.
I describe myself as a pantser. I haven’t the patience to write a detailed plan, although I often have something in my head. I often know the ending of a story before I start.
I do like to know my characters, though, so I will look at their background and what brought them to this point, even if it isn’t going to be in the story. People’s backgrounds affect how they behave, so this is important.
But in my Wolves of Vimar series, I have produced 4 prequels giving the background of some of the characters. There may be more to come in the future.
Once I have the characters and know them a bit, I begin to write. I allow things to happen as they occur to me. Sometimes it seems as if the characters are taking over. The first time this happened (in writing The Wolf Pack) I thought I must be going mad, because a character did something I wasn’t expecting. (No spoilers, so I won’t say what it was.) Then I discovered that other writers also have characters take over. They don’t always do as we want them to. One of my characters who first appeared in The Wolf Pack, a small dragon-like creature about the size of a cat, made no appearance in the second book, The Never-Dying Man, nor the third, Wolf Moon, but he demanded my attention, saying he must have a bigger role to play and he could be useful. So Muldee became a spy in Immortal’s Death and had quite a big and important role.
Stories often take a turn from what I originally envisaged. This is exciting. Sometimes it means I might have to change the ending. (Getting the right ending is difficult, so as to leave the reader feeling satisfied.)
There are times when I’m simply not inspired. A story is going nowhere and I spend hours trying to decide what to write. If I force myself to start, I frequently find that things happen and ideas flow that didn’t when I was just thinking about it. I suppose the characters are there and telling me what they want! :)) I have a couple of stories like that at the moment, but I have another project on the go, so they will have to wait.
But this method can take you down rabbit holes. This, of course, means more work in the editing process. It has to be sorted before anything else happens. Parts removed that are unnecessary and don’t add anything to the plot. Maybe characters need removing if they don’t do anything. But these can always be kept for another story.
I often run it through Grammarly or Hemmingway, a couple of grammar checkers. After I’ve done all I think I can do, I post it on a couple of on-line critique groups. These are invaluable and help me polish the manuscript as well as pointing out places where they got confused. Yes, I write confusing stuff sometimes.
Only then is it fit for human consumption, as it were. I don’t have beta readers, unfortunately. I’ve been unable to find any reliable ones, so it has to stand after this.
I hope to soon be back to my third historical novel set in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings.
Thank you for reading.
If you have any comments, please add them to the comments box, and if you want to buy any of my books, you can click on the cover on the sidebar to take you to the online store of your choice.
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Dragons Rule OK. V.M.Sang (author) 
Ah yes. I’m the same way. I’ve tried plotting, it just doesn’t work out for me. I need to experience the story as it happens or else it loses that magic. It does mean more editing and revision later though.
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Plotting bores me. By the time I come to writing the story all the excitement has gone. But yes, it does mean a lot more work in the revision process.
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I’m more of a pantser than a plotter, but I do have to work out characters’ motives and who knows what and who doesn’t as I go along. Inevitably, there are problems that must be figured out in rewrites.
I can’t imagine writing a first draft with some sort of structure in mind. The story has to be completed first. Adjusting the pacing and deleting redundant material is for second and subsequent drafts.
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Absolutely. I don’t mind the revision process, though. If I plotted in detail first, I’d be bored with the story before it was written. I love finding out what the story is about and who the characters are during the writing.
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I’m a hybrid planner/pantser/subconscious-searching writer myself. Most of my books involve complex characters, plots and settings as well as a load of thematic ideas. As a result, I have to know my ending (at least “sort of”) so I can plan the overall story in about 1-2 pages. Then I write paragraphs to describe each chapter. Once finished, I start my first rough draft.
As I write, I’m constantly entertaining new ideas, brilliant out-nowhere flashes of “genius” and dealing with characters who begin to chart their own courses as you have experienced with your characters.
Once, with the first book of my Dragon Train Quest Series, I had a title and the basis for a simple idea, I started writing pantser style. After about three to four chapters, I knew I had to stop, plan the rest of the book and then write my chapter summaries. Then I continued with my rough draft.
Once the book was finished I realized I had the first book of a series and then completed the 2 page summaries for books two and three. Etc. etc. etc.
I love the unexpected characters who just won’t be controlled by me and my agenda. And I’m always amazed at how my brain works at a subconscious level that suddenly hits me like a lightning bolt with brilliant ideas for the big “reveals” near the end of a book and/or series.
Stephen R. Donaldson, a brilliant best selling fantasy author who just happens to live in my general area in New Mexico talks about what I call the lightning bolt process in terms of a comet’s tail that passes through your brain on its way across the universe. The ideas just streak by while you walk through their tails, bestowed with those ideas that couldn’t have possibly come out of our little lives and imaginations.
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Thank you for giving us this insight into your process. I guess we all have different ways, but use whatever works for us.
I do get a little irritated by plotters (who often write posts on how it should be done) who seems to think their way is the best and we should all use it.
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What works the very best is the way each of us has discovered that allows us to come with great ideas, characters and plots. And then stick to it! Every method ends taking the same amount of time, we just distribute it differently. I only get bored with a story when I’m on the third, fourth, etc. drafts!
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The main thing is that it works for you.
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I find the pantser method to be a lot of fun, but I can only do that in small sections, usually when it happens on its own, like a self-driving car. But for a solid novel, I need to know that the pacing is right and the aims and high points in the book are going to be met in the places where they need to happen. This helps to avoid long boring sections and the readers’ fatigue we sometimes find two-thirds of the way through a book.
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I’ve not got the patience to plot in detail. When I was at school and we had to show our planning, I always did it afterwards. I suppose it might mean I need to do more in the rewrites to get it all in the right place, though.
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