How do you write?

“The more time I spend on the outline the easier the book is to write. And if I cheat on the outline I get in trouble with the book.” –John Grisham

“Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters’ theses.” – Stephen King

With such contrasting advice, what is a writer to do? How do we find our process when famous writers from the plotting camp and the pantsing camp (who write by the seat of their pants and discover the story as they go along) are saying completely opposite things?

Finding my writing process has sort of been like finding the right diet plan. It seems like I’ve tried them all. Elaborate character charts, processes for going from one sentence to a full synopsis with character development in between, as well as throwing all caution to the wind and typing with abandon. Nothing seemed to really work. I ended up with a mess. My characters, with all their personalities and their need for growth and change, would not play nicely with the plot details I needed to happen for the story to make sense.

From Jeff Gerke’s Plot Verse Character, I learned that I was a plot-first novelist. Characters are cardboard at first as my mind thinks of fun scenarios and crazy things that could happen to my people—or animals, as the case may be. I thought that meant that I needed to work harder on my characters. But again, all that came out was mush.

I then discovered James Scott Bell’s book, Super Structure. LIGHT BULB!!

Bell’s process for figuring out what he calls the 14 sign posts has been revolutionary for me. But, I still held onto those character sheets—everyone said I needed them to write a good story—and, once more, ended up with a word jumble.

What was wrong with me? I knew I was called to write. I knew God gave me ideas. So why couldn’t I write a cohesive story?

Well, just like Elsa, I have learned that I need to let it go. I needed to let go of the idea that I have to make character charts. Because that’s not me.

To that, I added the acceptance that I am a pantser through and through, and I shouldn’t mess with that. However, my brain still needs to have some kind of structure in order to bring out a cohesive story in the end. I now use a hybrid approach. My process now looks like this:

1. Get a kernel of an idea.
2. Run with that kernel and just start typing. See what comes out.
3. Stop after the first act (for me that’s 6 chapters) and make notecards with each scene, POV character, conflict, setting, and, most importantly, any of those signposts.
4. Brainstorm in my journal about what could happen next.
5. Write the next act with abandon.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 until the book is done.

What about you? What works for you? Or are you still searching for your process, slogging through craft books as you try to discover how your writing brain works? If you’re still figuring it out, don’t give up. Keep experimenting and keep writing.

There are so many resources/methods out there. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but these are some that I’ve tried in addition to the ones linked above. (FYI: None of these are affiliate links. Just spreading the love.)

Learn to write a novel resource library–Susan May Warren

Snowflake Method–Randy Ingermanson

Story Trumps Structure–Steven James

(This blog was originally posted November 6, 2019. I’ve added a bit as I’ve learned more about my process.)