I happen to be a pantser. I didn't think I was, but the more I've written, the more I've learned that this style works best for me. My very first book took a LONG time to write. I hit a bunch of road blocks because I would get stuck, stop writing for sometimes months before figuring out how to solve the problem, and then continue on once I knew exactly what needed to happen. I kept a list of who was in what chapter, how often I felt they needed to appear, and used this map as my guideline. It got frustrating and messy, but I finally finished.
While I was writing its sequel, someone in one of my writer's groups mentioned that they never wrote the story in sequential order. They'd write the scenes they WANTED to write. I was blown away by that idea, because I'd push through the difficult parts with the hopes of rewarding myself with the fun scenes I was looking forward to. But the problem with that was that sometimes, I'd lose my inspiration, and the scene became something else I'd have to force. I decided to jump in and write the scenes I was most excited to write. My book was still mapped out, but looser this time. I just wanted to focus on the parts and conversations I was dying to write, and it was so much more fun and satisfying. Filling in the blanks from one scene to the next wasn't as difficult as I'd feared, and it made me excited to keep going back and writing instead of dreading that one scene I just couldn't get past.
For my most recent book, "Evan the Horrible," I took pantsing a step further. I really had no outline in mind, but rather characters whose story I wanted to tell. I knew I wanted a guy who came from a troubled background to transform, who had a good influence help him to see who he really was and help him reach his potential. I began writing my book without much idea of where it would go, except that he would befriend Cassie Reynolds (from my Magical Troubles series Books 1 & 2), and develop into a love interest. As I wrote the first scene, I gave Cassie a desk partner who had a dragon tattoo on her arm and short black hair with purple tips. And then I immediately took a step back. Why was some random girl more developed than my main character? This girl, Jazzy Allen, was WAY more interesting than Cassie ever was, and I knew I'd found my main character. So, I scrapped Cassie with the intent of bringing her back into the story to link it in as Book 3. It never happened.
Once I decided Jazzy was my main character, I knew she needed a backstory. Why would she have a dragon on her arm? Why the purple tips? What type of person was she? I spent a few days writing down who she was, and then as I began discovering more about the guy, I realized he was way too dull as well. I needed someone who'd be as fun and full of life as she was. And then it hit me. Why not use Evan Rice from Book 2? He was obnoxious and fun and hilarious to write, always ready with a quick comeback or snarky remark. And he could transform as my original character was supposed to do. Since I went with Evan, I needed to discover why HE acted the way he did. There had to be some explanation to his obnoxiousness.
Writing Evan and Jazzy's characters was an amazing experience. It was so much fun discovering who they were, what their parents did, what they liked, and what their future plans were (even though most of it never made it into the actual book). By creating character outlines, I came to really know these two better, and that was what made this book so easy to write. Instead of years, it took only four months. I'd write the scenes I wanted, and when I got stuck, I'd think, "What would Evan do to get out of this?" and then I'd let him tell the story.
Being a pantser means having the story ever evolving. There are many pages of cut paragraphs, conversations, and magical scenes that never made it into the book, moments I was so excited to develop, but other things happened and changed the outcome. What began as a story that was supposed to portray a growth through influential friendships became more of a transformation to the reader, seeing Evan for as he truly is. I'm so excited to have you guys read this!
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