Plotting or Pantsing?

Perhaps you’ve heard somebody use the concepts of Plotting or Pantsing. Usually, writers have strong opinions on what’s their preferred mode of writing a book is, and that’s fine. The important thing is to find what works for you. Plotters plan out most (if not all) of their plot of their book before they to write. Pantsers, on the other hand, may start with a rough idea, and start writing without necessarily knowing how the story will end. Pantsing – short for flying or doing something by the seat of your pants, meaning going by your instincts or ideas more than having a plan. What’s your preference?

If you’ve read my post on writing fictional characters, you know that Circus Mesmer started with the characters. My main characters Lennox, Max and Alex, teen siblings and circus performers with supernatural powers, came first, plot second. Before I really started thinking about the book’s plot, I spent some time figuring them out. I fiddled about for a while trying to decide on how to/if to plot, but who am I kidding? I am a plotter. Also, the plot of Circus Mesmer has some twists and turns that has given me a headache several times, so I definitely wanted to get my ducks in a row and untangle the strands of the plot to make sure it made sense. I’ve read about “pantsers” who start writing a book without knowing how it will end, but that isn’t for me. I get goose bumps just thinking about it (not the good kind). Plotting it is.

Doing Research

From the start, I knew I wanted to set my story partly in the Circus world. Not a traditional circus, with animals (I don’t believe animals should be used in circus numbers) and sawdust and so on, but a modern performing space with elements from the circus. My characters had grown up in the circus world, and they are circus performers. That meant that I read a lot of books about the circus, both past and present, and did a lot of research online circus history, performers and so on. I also went to see Cirque du Soleil and other shows, with research on my mind. That was fun! I have always loved the circus, and it was interesting and necessary to learn more about the circus, its history, development, and performers. I researched in parallel with planning out my project, and was thinking and writing about the characters and plot as I went along.

Keeping Track of Characters

As my story grew, there were a large number of characters I needed to keep track of.. My story spans generations, and I knew I had to keep the genealogy straight, so I started working on a family tree (really, family treeS) to keep track of them. I tried various methods for making one, I drew various versions, tried out different software. I even tried genealogy software, but it didn’t work for me. In the end I went for Excel. It’s not ideal (understatement), but with so many families connected in weird ways, that was my best option at the time. I placed all the names in small boxes, printed the file, and drew the connecting lines by hand in various colors to keep track of the relationships between characters.  

Next time, or if I get around to cleaning this one up, I’ll definitely use Scapple, more on that here, but I didn’t know about this cool mind map (and more!) tool then. I like my weird little family tree, and I keep referring to it often. It’s kept me from making stupid mistakes in my plotting several times—the visual representation about the whos, wheres, and whens is invaluable.

Character Backstories and Timelines

As I was really getting into my project, I realized that I wanted to write the back stories of the main characters and development of some of the main plot points. There are events in the present that are closely connected to the past, and I needed to be clear on exactly those events played out and how characters were affected by them, even if only I would ever know about them. Writing these backstories really helped me to develop the story. One character, who doesn’t have a large presence in the book, has an important backstory that I needed to get straight, as it affects the plot. Writing the backstories also gave me more confidence in my story, it was time well spent.

Creating a timeline of events was the most important step I took in creating the plot of my story. The timeline goes much farther back than the actual story, but it was important to me to make a visual representation of how events and characters influence each other in the past and present. I made columns for characters and their powers & development, for the main story, and for two plot strands that influence the major action. The timeline was difficult, because I didn’t have a good way of arranging all the different strands of the story and still make it easy to follow. At one point, I had so many documents and hand-written timelines and notes all over my office; it was driving me nuts. Surely there had to be a better way of working?

Organizing Notes and Research

Files and files of disordered research, notes, character charts and backstories slowed me down for a while. I just couldn’t figure out how to organize everything. Then I stumbled across Scrivener (more about that in another post), and I could consolidate all my disorganized notes, files and research. Using Scrivener also meant that I could finally organize my plot visually in a timeline that actually worked, which made my life so much easier. After I moved everything to Scrivener and really got the hang of using it, I had everything I needed in one place and I could really get into writing the story.

I really recommend finding a way of organizing your material, no matter what system works for you. The point is to give you room to write without being distracted by not having easy access to what you need when you need it. There are many types of writing apps and software out there. I’ve also heard that some people have found the Ulysses app helpful, but I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say one way or the other. For me, Scrivener’s perfect. Find a system that works for you.

The Snowflake Method

If you are a plotter, that probably means that you like planning out your story in some kind of detail before you get into the actual writing. If you’re a pantser, this might not be for you. I’ve used the Snowflake Method on aspects of this story, and it’s helped me a lot. I’ll give you the basic idea. The method is Randy Ingermanson’s idea, and he explains it well on his site, but I’ll give you the basic idea. It’s a detailed plotter’s method, that’s for sure! The idea is that you build your text like a snowflake, a fractal pattern. Fractals are beautiful, by the way, look them up if you like. You start by witing a one-sentece summary of your novel, and build on that. The next step is to expand on that sentence, and write a paragraph, and so on. You can snowflake your way through your characters, plot, scenes and chapters, and it helped me get a clear understanding of what I wanted my story to do, how my character’s arcs fit into the larger structure of the plot, and to build the world of the story.

Writing: The Benefits of Nonlinearity

Even though I am definitely a plotter, I seldom write my stories in chronological order. I am not talking about story structure here, but about how I work when I write. Writing scenes and chapters completely out of sequence helps me stay connected to fresh ideas. Since I have a pretty good idea about what is going to happen in the story, I sometimes have these detailed ideas for a particular scene or chapter. I might make notes to work on later, or I might write the whole thing out. It is easy to place the scene where I want it in my story structure using Scrivener, and still have an excellent overview of the story.

Sometimes this approach can land me in trouble. I’ve noticed that I may butterfly around my manuscript if I am stuck on something difficult, but it keeps me writing instead of staring at a blank page. Thinking about something else for a while unglues my mind. Three of the pivotal scenes in Circus Mesmer were clear to me almost immediately after I started thinking about the story, and they have changed little from their first iteration. Also, it is fun writing like this, all over the place, but with a detailed plan in the background.

Editing and Beta Readers

Editing is hard work. Finishing a manuscript for the first time around is great. The entire story is on paper for the first time, and it’s wonderful to have run the first lap with the characters. I am a teacher, and I always teach my students about editing and revising a text before handing it in. The first version is a (very) rough draft of what your story will be like at the end, so keep working on it! Easier said than done, I’ve found. Then again, most things are.

I let my manuscript rest for a while, perhaps a couple of months, as I do something else and try not to think too much about the story. It helps me create a certain distance to the text, and that makes it easier to start the editing process, which can be painful. It is nice to have a rest for a time, but then I need to work on something else, otherwise I go right back and start picking at the story. When I come back to it, I always start with a read through, to really get into the flow of the story. I try not to get hung up on details, but focus more on how the story flows and the feeling I get from reading. I might make a few notes, but more often than not, I just read.

When I start to edit, I keep copious notes on what I need to work on. Details of other parts of the story constantly pop up while I am working on something, and if I don’t want to stop right then (which is mostly the better approach), I make a note of it and keep working. I don’t want to get bogged down by details of grammar or sentences when I am working on structure, for example, but I do want to remember to do something about it when it’s time. When I was at University and had to write academic papers, I got a tip that I’ve been using ever since. Have you noticed that it can be difficult to delete parts of your story that don’t work? Yeah, me too. I move them into a file called Prize-Winning Stuff. That means I can move the text out of the way, without the agony of deleting my fabulous writing, which might be needed at some other time (it never is).

I won’t get into too much detail of the editing process, that is a post for another day, but I will say this: After you’ve edited your book a couple of times, it might be time to find some beta readers to read your manuscript. Beta readers may typically provide a general reader viewpoint to give you an idea of how your story works for your target audience, and could give you a lot of interesting and important feedback. I asked some beta readers to read Circus Mesmer after my third editing round, when I felt I needed some fresh eyes on my text. Some of my students read, and also some friends and family. Their input has been invaluable! Right now I’m editing the book for the nth time based on their feedback, and hoping to getting it ready for querying soon, so I can get the book to you. I’d love for you to meet Lennox, Max and Alex.

Do you have any tips for working on and editing a manuscript? I’d love to hear from you!