“I’m very much a writer who lets the story develop. I have no idea how the book is going to end. . .I don’t know what my characters are capable of until I spend a hundred pages with them.” David Baldacci, told to The Daily Beast

I listened to a freelance editor teach an audience once about pantsers versus plotters. When dealing with a newer author, she can tell the difference in the manuscript. The pantsers tend to write long, while the plotters write lighter. I had to think about that, and after a moment realized I’ve preached something parallel for ages.

Plotters (or those who outline in depth before writing the story) have mapped out the story. In my experience, outlining robs the energy from the storytelling. The author may think they’ve told their story thoroughly in the “retelling” they are doing in the manuscript, but because they are in essence retelling, the repetition often makes the author feel like they’ve already told it. The brain is a weird and tricky organ.

But that is my opinion.

Pantsers (or those who make up the story as they write the manuscript) are mapping as they go, so they fear leaving anything out. They often write longer, not having used the outlining process to cull ideas that possibly should be discarded.

Again, my opinion.

There is no right or wrong here, but you should give each a fighting chance. I’ve tried to outline and didn’t get past chapter three before I changed the story and discarded chunks of the outline. By the midpoint, I’d tossed the outline altogether. Currently, I jot down two to three pages of thoughts in blocks of copy. Usually narrative about how the character should proceed, think, and change. Then I write however many chapters that turns into. Repeat.

And there are others who pen 50 pages of outline.

To each his own, I say. But don’t discard one without trying it. You never know what creative genius may evolve from having to formulate thoughts from a different angle. You have to experiment before you decide what’s right.