Writing Wednesday: Pantzer to Plotter
June 3, 2009 by Melissa
This is going to be the first of what I hope is a weekly blog on writing. While this will focus on everything writing(craft, writer’s life, business, etc), readers are more than welcomed to comment:) If you are an author (pubbed or unpubbed) who would like to write a blog on writing, feel free to contact me.
This story sort of goes back to RWA nationals 2003. It was my first conference and I was woefully lost. Hell, I didn’t even know what GMC (goal, motivation and conflict for you nonwriters) was. But I flew the 11 hours from Hawaii to attend. One day at breakfast, I saw a woman I thought was someone I went to HS and college with. Low and behold, Mary Beth Lee , fellow flute player and 1987 graduate of BHS, was also an aspiring romance author. She was the president of my hometown chapter at the time. We struck up a friendship over writing, and when we returned to Texas, she invited me to a retreat with some of her friends. That is where I got to know Shelley Bradley and her plotting method.
I have always been a pantzer-someone who writes by the seat of her pants. While I am a Capricorn, I tend to have things I rebel on. Part of it comes from being a military brat and wife. Everything is so scheduled and we have no control over that schedule. The other part was just my sadistic side. I don’t wanna, was something I would say to plotters. It will ruin my creative process. I truly believed that if I plotted a book out that extensively, it would ruin the book. That either it would come across as stale, or I would freeze up and not be able to write it.
As I approached my series The Cursed Clan, I realized I was in some trouble. This was a huge series with one storyline running throughout all five books and then a seperate romance in each book. That’s probably the reason I stalled on it for so long. Then, Demon Seed the Second went in the hospital with pnuemonia, and I had a lot of time to think about my career as I stayed up nights watching her lay there in the hospital bed. I knew I had to do something because I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t spending enough time with the kids or Les, and earlier that year I had ended up in the hospital myself. I was sick of pushing myself to the outerlimits and not gaining more and realized I needed to start writing books targetted to NY again. When I said something to Shelley about it she said, in that matter of fact voice she gets that tells you not to argue, “You have to plot this one out.”
I knew she was right and what followed was a learning process. Sometimes I was so excited, so very happy to see it all coming together. But other times, it hurt. It made me look at the overall scope of my writing, the GMC, all the plot twists and turns, and realize that I could have made past books even better than they were. I also got to know my characters better, which in turn, deepened their characterizations.
When I put it in action, it was painful again. It was like learning to write all over again, but it did something else. It pushed me to think about the plot, to make sure there were no holes(before I wrote the whole damn thing and then have to fix it). And I found something else out. There was no mid book panic. Before, I would panic about half way through a book. Les knew it well, knew when I would hit the middle and then get blocked worrying about not being able to finish it. What if the plot didn’t pan out, what if it was too short or too long? I still have panics, but now, I look to my plot board, find out what I am missing and move on.
I figured out after doing the plot boards a couple of times that my inner Cappy, not to mention the military brat and wife, was freaking out by being a pantzer. I need plans, lists, and lists of plans to be happy. Nothing is set in stone, and can be changed in the middle of a book, but now I know just WHY it needs to be changed. I am a happier writer(even if I still bitch about having to plot), and I feel that I made a big jump in my growth in the last year. Granted, I have a long way to go, and I think as an author if I ever say, “I know everything.” I will give up writing. It is painful, but learning to grow my writing, to become a better writer is one of the most exciting things about the business for me.
UPDATE: Here is one of my plot boards so you get an idea.
For Bound to the Laird
If you want to learn how to plot the Shelley Bradley way, she is teaching a class online: Storyboarding for the Story Challenged, 9/6 thru 10/2 at the Yosemite Romance Writers.
Would you like a free critique? Just comment on the blog today, and I will draw a winner on Friday, June 5th for a free three chapter critique.
Comments
11 Responses to “Writing Wednesday: Pantzer to Plotter”
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Well thanks for explaining what GMC was cause I automatically thought of cars. lol Do you still pant it every once in a while now too or do you strictly plot?
I go between pantzing and plotting. I have a storyboard, taught by Shelley (but apparently not very well), but I really use it to make sure I have all the major plot aspects in place before I start writing. I also have, in another color, H/h post it notes for why they don’t fall in love on page 1 and what their internal/external conflicts are. That’s all.
You keep mentioning your inner Cappy and it got me to thinking. My inner Cancer is so sensitive that I would have to say I haven’t subbed anything yet simply because I’m afraid of the outcome: acceptance or rejection! LOL
Thanks for the post. I’ve RSSed you on my mail so I’ll see the posts coming in! Whoever invented that idea was a GENIUS. I couldn’t keep up with blogs any other way.
D.
I have had the great honor to attend a workshop with Shelly recently and this former Pantzer is now a confirmed Plotter! I can’t believe how quickly the story comes together and although I have great moments of impulse writing, I simply adjust my template a little. Plotting truly keeps me focused and helps keep the story going.
I love this article and will definitely tune in each Wednesday for more!
Maggi G
I am a very new writer – have first draft of first book done and am editing for second draft.
When I thought about plotting things out, I found I got very overwhelmed. So I decided to just write, write, write. I was surprised and amazed where my story went – places I had never thought about when I first thought of the book. Ideas for the next scene would come to me at the coffee shop, in the car, in bed, or when my fingers were on the keys.
Now that the first draft is one, I went through with a friend to find out what to do to make is a stonger story and, in the end, I will end up re-writing most of the middle.
But, I am not upset at having to do that.
On a different note: I think that I may move to more plotting as I get more experience writing in general. As my brain starts to work deeper into books, plot lines and characters, it may be come easier for me as I go. I don’t know if I will ever do extreme plotting, but I have a feeling it will get slightly more structured as I go
Regards.
Leanne.
So when you all talk about a plotting board is it an actual board like a white board or cork board? Or is this something you typed up on a computer?
I picture white boards everywhere with different colored writing all over it. Maybe a person could use that black board paint and do an entire wall.
Melissa,
Loved this blog! I do the same — the mid book panic! I thought it was just me! I really like the idea of a plotting board….I’m checking out the site you provided! I also worry about if I do take the workshop — going back and trying to re-write all my stuff! It sounds like you would have if you had a chance! Scary!
Thanks for the posts! I’ll be reading up on this and other writing topics every Wednesday!
best!
billi jean
My storyboard is a double sided white board, like poster board with foam in the middle, I guess is the way I’d describe it.
I start out by scribbling on paper and then switch to the story board to see if there are any holes. But I’m very general, so I still pantz a little.
How about you?
Great post! I am a panster,too, and need to become a plotter. I, too, suffer from mid-book panic and it’s not fun! For your storyboard, do you use 3×5 note cards? And do you follow the hero’s journey or any specific method?
Great blog! Thank Twitter for leading me here. This site has already been added to my favorites and I will visit often.
(I would like to be considered for the drawing, by the way)
Great blog! Thank Twitter for leading me here. I too am a pantzer. Sadly, I don’t know if I’ll ever be a plotter, but I am working on it.
I’m a newbie – starting writing about two years ago – now I have a finished manuscript I’m editing – and part of the next book . On top of that I have lots and lots of other stories started. I don’t plot, outline, or anything – I just write. The charaters tend to “drive” the stories. I always have a notebook with me – you never know when those ideas will hit. thanks – this blog is a good idea