Your writing process is as unique as your fingerprint. Are you an obsessive planner who gets caught up in the details? Or maybe an action-oriented visionary who jumps in enthusiastically and gets confused halfway through? Maybe you’re in the middle—you make a basic plot and “pants” (fly by the seat of your pants) from point to point.
There is no right or wrong writing process. J. R. R. Tolkien spent 17 years writing the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In contrast, Stephen King has rapidly published over 60 books during his career—an average of 1-2 books per year.
But how can you maximize your writing process instead of getting tripped up by it?
Let’s explore the pros and cons of your unique writing process and find the best strategy to maximize your creativity.
The Plotter: The Writer Who Outlines from Start to Finish.
Pros. You are detail-oriented, thorough, and well-researched. You have a rock-solid grasp of your characters, plot line, and worldbuilding.
Cons. You get bored. Because you know every plot twist, the whole story becomes yawn-worthy.
Strategy. Surprise yourself. Try exploring something you took for granted before: the antagonist’s childhood, the effects of toxic waste on pets in your futuristic world, the small inconveniences of life. Go crazy (slightly), imitate the pantser’s process, and change something random and dramatic for fun. Exercise spontaneous writing outside of your story by using a writer’s journal every day.
The Pantser: The Writer Who Builds the Airplane While Flying.
Pros. Because you don’t have a set-in-stone plot, your stories are full of fun, endless surprises. What will happen today? Who knows! Definitely not you. You are a fountain of creative ideas, too many to write in your lifetime.
Cons. Your laptop is a graveyard of half-finished stories, and you often doubt yourself as a writer. You get stuck when you can’t figure out a plot hole, and then you easily give up. When you try to structure your writing, your creative fire feels completely extinguished.
Strategy. Stay inspired. Create playlists, Pinterest boards, or character edits that you can revisit to stoke your creative fire. If you remind yourself of why you started, you will feel more inspired to keep writing. Each time you begin a story, write down one or two reasons why this story must be written and why it must be written by you. Keep these notes on your laptop at all times. Practice structured writing outside of your story by reading to see structure in action.
The Leapfrogger: The Writer Who Has a Basic Outline and Pantses Between Each Point.
Pros. You are a flexible hybrid, combining the structure of the plotter with the spontaneity of the pantser. You know enough to not get stuck, but not enough to get bored. (You probably pride yourself on having the best most practical writing process.)
Cons. Unfortunately, you also experience the struggles of both plotters and pantsers—getting bored or stuck. Often at the same time.
Strategy. Have fun. Don’t make writing a boring grind. Since you have an outline, you can skip around to various parts. Try writing the fun scenes you’ve been looking forward to. Keep the fire of inspiration alive by making writing a fun experience—listen to music, try new techniques like the Pomodoro Method, or go to a new café to write.
The Bluffer: The Writer Who Has Several Story Pieces but Has No Idea How They Fit Together.
Pros. Your stories are gorgeous, collage-like masterpieces: you have no idea how all the pieces fit together, so you just pretend you knew what you were doing all along.
You have a vivid imagination and a rich inner world. Stories leap into your mind everywhere you go. Songs, movies, a walk in the park—anything can inspire you.
Cons. You lack direction. Your vivid ideas often drift away like smoke in the wind (or cotton candy in water), especially the more you wait on them. You also tend to get bogged down by the aesthetic elements like voice and description and forget about the trusty tools of plot, structure, and character arcs.
Strategy. Write everything down. Keep two documents: one for your work in progress and another (perhaps a notebook) for dumping ideas, lists, scraps of poetry, images, and other story inspiration pieces. In the words of Jack London, “Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain….Lead pencil markings endure longer than memory.” For more tips, check out this blog post on what to do when you have a “Pinterest board” (a collection of ideas and aesthetics) but no plot.
The Fan: The Writer Who Loves Creating Characters but Hates Everything Else
Pros. Your characters are vivid, life-like, and unforgettable. Readers resonate with them or aspire to be like them. They are truly powerful and bring readers back to your stories again and again.
Cons. Because you haven’t developed a plot or world, you don’t know what to do with your characters. They float around like talking heads, filling your pages with dialogue in an empty world disconnected from the five senses.
Strategy. For an in-depth guide about having a character and no plot, check out this blog post. In summary, explore your character’s fears, desires, and environment to create the best world and plot to showcase them. Diamonds show up best against black velvet, and some characters show up best in a zombie apocalypse. Don’t give up on your characters—you were drawn to them for a reason. If worldbuilding or descriptive writing bore you, learn more about these skills and practice them.
Although other processes exist, these are the five most discussed processes on Reddit forums, blog posts, and YouTube videos. Whichever process is yours, embrace it and just write. As William Zinsser said, “You learn to write by writing.” Keep going, keep experimenting, and you’ll have an amazing story in no time.
If you would like a quick writing exercise, check out this month’s writing prompt calendar here.
Sending love,
Anastasia xoxo