Welcome to the November 2019 monhtly topic for SinCLA/Blog. If you’re new here, or want to find out what upcoming topics will be, be sure to check out our Getting Started post.
For the November 2019 monthly topic, we looked for something both universal and that also tied in to supporting our authors who are participating in National Novel Writing Month, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. It’s the kind of event that makes it a struggle for those who are used to being heavy plotters, but also may make a pantser lose focus under pressure.
So, this month’s question is:
Plotter versus Pantser: How do you tackle a first draft?
Comment and chat about it here!
I’m definitely a plotter. The mere thought of writing as a pantser leaves me utterly perplexed. I need to set intermediate goals, both in life and in my writing.
I’m not one of those fortunate folks who knew from that first peanut butter & jelly sandwich that I wanted to become a writer. I only discovered late in life that creativity can actually be its own reward, let alone lead to a more interesting life.
But creating on the fly? Maybe someday, but not this year.
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If you’re a kindred plotter and are participating in National Novel Writing Month, you might like this Scrivener Bootcamp tutorial – it’s about using a Scrivener outline to turbocharge your NaNoWriMo production.
Here it is –
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For when I usually write, I’ve been working toward detailed outlines over the years because I started out a “pantser” before I knew the term. However, just letting the creative juices flow as it were, I’d write myself into major logic holes that would make my plot fall apart. So I began to adopt outlines for discipline.
Knowing that “NaNo” can be more fluid, I go in with a high level “tentpole” outline to try and stay on course, as I know “NaNo” by nature is more fluid. This year, I completely left the outline early and in turn it has impacted my ability to do word count.
I am at least happy for the ability it has given me to shoot for writing a few words each day again and hope I can keep that Dec 1 and beyond.
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