Nanowrimo: Planning vs Pantsing

Happy Halloween!

Tomorrow is the first day of Nanowrimo, and I’m already questioning my decision to participate. It’s going to be a lot of work, but hopefully I can push myself through it until the end!

With less than 24 hours until the challenge begins, I want to address one of the big questions when it comes to Nanowrimo, or novel writing in general: are you a planner, or are you a pantser?

If you are a planner, you’re probably finished with your outline already and just waiting to turn it into a story, and if you’re a pantser, you probably have an idea and a whole lot of build-up creativity ready for next month. In just about every aspect of life, I am a planner, and my first attempt at National Novel Writing Month will be no different.

When I started my first novel this summer (and quit at about 25,000 words, realizing it was going nowhere), I went in with a very rough outline, and about a million unresolved plot holes waiting for me. Needless to say, this was a disaster; however, at that time I knew that planning would have stalled the project forever, and if I wanted to get something written I just had to go for it.

This time around, I went with a different strategy and made a detailed outline, and I’m already glad I did. I feel as though I know my characters better, and it was almost like their goals and desires propelled the plot along on its own as I outlined. That’s not to say it’s perfect, there are still a few blaring holes I have yet to fill, but I’m satisfied that this will keep me on track during the next 30 days.

To make my outline, I strayed from my usual paper-and-pencil method and opted for a spreadsheet, which I made using Google Sheets (I use Google Docs for everything, I am horrible at remembering to save files). I made two separate sheets: one for characters and one for the outline.

For the characters, I mixed and matched questions from a few different “character questionnaires” I found online, and answered the questions which I felt were relevent for each character. For my outline, I made a column for each of the following: chapter/scene number, description of scene, time/date, setting, characters involved, subplots relevant, and total word count per scene (to be filled out as I write). I am not completely finished with the outline, but hopefully I can squeeze the rest in tonight before November starts and it’s time to begin writing.

For me, planning is a great way to keep my focus and stay on track with my goals, because it stops my story from reaching a dead-end. I know many people swear by pantsing, and if you are one of them I would love to hear how you keep your ideas organized! Regardless of which category you fall under, I wish you a happy Nanowrimo and the best of luck on whatever project you choose to pursue.

I can’t wait to hear everyone’s Nanowrimo updates throughout the month and I’ll try my best to keep blogging; until then, happy writing!