I love writing as a pantser. I love not having an outline. I love not knowing what will happen. I love letting the characters guide me.

Whether you’re a pantser, a planner, or something in between, there is no single right way to write fiction. I always say whatever works for an individual author is the right approach. Every approach is going to have pluses and minuses, benefits and tradeoffs.

In my opinion, and in brief, here’s the good, the good, and the ugly of writing as a panster (in my experience).

THE GOOD

There are two major things I just LOVE about writing as a pantser.

1: the incredible surprises and joys when you realize where the story is going (because 60% of the way through, you legitimately had no conscious idea of it). It’s truly just the most amazing thing. Every novel I’ve written, I’ve had a moment that overwhelmed me as I saw where things were going and how things were weaving together, even from novel to novel within my trilogy.

I had set up things I didn’t know I was setting up–every time. To me, that moment of realization or epiphany is worth every ounce of writer’s block (see the bad below).

2. You have to know your characters well to wing it, and the plot will develop as you let them lead and be themselves. If you wing it well, this is a great plus. It avoids a situation where an outline inauthentically forces them into situations they wouldn’t enter or into actions they wouldn’t choose. I’ve heard a lot of planners talk about how their characters busted their outline–because they are good writers, and they realized as they started writing from their outline that things couldn’t quite go the way they’d first intended.

This doesn’t happen as a pantser. You have no outline to be blown, and as you’re making everything up as you go along anyway, you don’t mind the revisions for cohesion and plot holes (see the bad and the ugly).

THE BAD

Writing without an outline means lots of content edits: edits for cohesion, to add foreshadowing and consistency, and to eliminate plot holes.

Yes, one of the major purposes of outlining is to plot things out so that you can find and fix plot holes before you write. As a pantser, that obviously isn’t going to happen.

You have lots of fixes, rewrites, and moving of scenes and such as a panster. Early revisions are kind of a BEAST.

Personally, I don’t mind that at all. I just get super excited to see how the story is improving as I move things around and make the story flow better. But lots of people would like to avoid that kind of thing.

You can avoid it to a greater degree, for sure, if you outline. If you want to write as a pantser, these revisions are part of the deal.

THE UGLY

We’re talking writer’s block here..

This is a chance you take if you wing it while writing. Yes, the experience is magical. The thrills are glorious. But there is no possibility of finding a plot hole at the outline stage, before you write, as mentioned above. Beyond that, the writer’s block as a panster can be very real.

My first drafts take me a long time because I generally get stuck here and there writing them. Since I haven’t outlined anything, I don’t know what’s going to happen, and sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what’s going to happen next.

Personally, I’m ok with that. I consider it a challenge, and a fun one. I write in fits and spurts during a first draft. It’s part of my process. As I said above, every approach to writing with have its positives and negatives. This is (from one point of view) a negative of my approach, but I’m at peace with it. It’s simply how I go about writing.

So, what about you? If you’re a writer, are you a pantser or a planner? What has been your experience of the positives and negatives of your approach? Have you adjusted your approach at all over time?

(Definitely feel free to check out the website for my YA fantasy, The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope if you feel so inclined. My publisher made a great webpage for it, it’s just beautiful!)