Plotters vs. Pantsers: My Experience Writing Four Books Without an Outline

If you've spent any time in writing circles, you've probably heard authors describe themselves as "plotters" or "pantsers." Maybe you've even heard the compromise term "plantser."

For those unfamiliar with the terminology, here's the breakdown:

Plotters meticulously outline their entire story before writing a single scene. They know the beginning, middle, and end. They have character arcs mapped out. They've planned every plot twist, every emotional beat, every chapter break. They write with a roadmap.

Pantsers write "by the seat of their pants." They start with a character, a situation, or a single scene, and discover the story as they go. They don't know how the book ends until they get there. They trust the process to reveal itself.

Plantsers are the diplomatic middle ground—they do some planning but leave room for discovery. They might outline major plot points but improvise the details. They want structure without rigidity.

I am, unequivocally, a pantser.

And somehow, that chaotic approach resulted in three complete novels in less than two years.

How I Wrote My First Book

When I started writing The Strangest of Places, I had exactly three things:

1. Memories of discovering Phish in December 1993, my first show in July 1995, and my first camp-out festival in August 1996

   
   

2. A unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience at that festival that I thought might make a cool story climax

   
   

3. A suspicion that a story of finding your people through music would resonate with other book-loving music geeks

   
   

That was it. No outline. No character sketches. No plot structure.

I sat down and started writing about Autumn, giving readers a sense of a typical day in her life, a bit about her background, and setting the scene that led to how she heard Phish for the first time. Then I asked myself: What else is important for readers to know about her?

The answers came as I wrote. Her difficult childhood emerged organically because I needed to explain why music meant so much to her. Her relationship with John developed because I needed her to have someone who shared her passion, and would challenge her self-image. The family drama unfolded because I needed to show where her insecurities came from.

I didn't plan any of it. I just followed the thread.

By the time I finished, I had a complete novel—30 chapters, each titled with a song that somehow perfectly captured what happened in that section. I didn't choose those songs ahead of time. They revealed themselves as I wrote.

Then Came Books 2, 3, and 4

After finishing The Strangest of Places, I thought: Okay, now I'll be smart about this. I'll outline Book 2. I'll plan the arc. I'll be a plotter this time.

That lasted about ten minutes.

I sat down to write A Nightfall of Diamonds knowing only this: Autumn goes to college, she's navigating new challenges she’s never encountered before, and there's a friend from high school who complicates things.

And then something strange happened. After I finished Book 2, I couldn't sleep. The story kept going in my head. I kept seeing what happened next—scenes, conversations, and conflicts that took place after Book 2 ended that I hadn't planned or even considered.

Not to lose momentum, I started writing Book 3. Book 4 came about much the same way: one scene leading to the next, characters making choices I didn't see coming, plot twists that surprised me as much as they'll surprise readers.

I wrote Books 2, 3 and 4 between April of 2024 and February of 2025, and I never plotted a single point on any of them.

The Pros of Being a Pantser

When I started writing, I didn't know there were different approaches to writing, let alone that they had names and associated pros and cons. I just sat down and did it. Now that I've done it a few times, and did some poking around in writerly circles, I've learned a few things. The differences between my process and how others approach theirs is one of them.

Here's what I love about being a pantser:

1. Authentic Discovery

When I don't know what's going to happen, my characters don't either. That uncertainty creates genuine tension. The stakes feel real because I'm genuinely uncertain about the outcome.

2. Creative Freedom

If a scene isn't working, I can pivot immediately. I'm not locked into an outline that demands I get from Point A to Point B in a specific way. If a character wants to make a different choice, I can follow them down that path to find out what happens alongside them.

3. Organic Character Development

My characters reveal themselves through their actions, not through pre-written character sheets. I learn who they are by watching how they respond to situations. Sometimes they surprise me—and those surprises are often the best moments in the book.

4. Momentum and Flow

When I'm writing, I'm in discovery mode. I want to know what happens next, which keeps me writing. There's an urgency to the process that feels exciting and immediate.

5. Happy Accidents

Some of my favorite plot points happened because I made a "mistake" that ended up being perfect. A character I introduced as a minor figure became central. A throwaway line in Chapter 3 became a major theme by Chapter 20. I wouldn't have found those moments if I'd been following a strict outline.

The Cons of Being a Pantser

As the song says, "every rose has its thorn." You could also say, "with great freedom comes great responsibility." Both are accurate summations of what the cons of being a pantser look like to me:

1. Messy First Drafts

My first drafts are disasters. Plot holes, inconsistencies, scenes that go nowhere, characters whose names change halfway through—pantsing creates chaos that requires significant revision. Not surprisingly, my favorite Word shortcut is Ctrl + H (find/replace). The band that’s introduced in Book 2 is on their 3^rd name, which I’m finally happy with (and surprised it took me as long as it did to settle on it).

2. Dead Ends

Sometimes I write myself into a corner. I'll get 50 pages into a subplot only to realize it doesn't serve the story. That's 50 pages I have to cut or completely rewrite. You don’t want to know how many times I’ve done this, especially if you’re a pantser too.

3. Pacing Issues

Without an outline, it's easy to linger too long on one section or rush through another. I don't always know which scenes are essential until I see the whole manuscript. Going back to read it again later, I sometimes wind up breaking a long scene up and inserting the second half of it into another scene. I still say what I want, I just have to make it work so the character revisits the original topic from a different angle.

4. The Sagging Middle

Pantsers often struggle with the middle of the book because we don't have a roadmap. I know where I started and I have a vague sense of where I'm going, but the middle? That's where I wander. Sometimes it leads to epiphanies, sometimes it leads to dead ends. You just have to be okay with taking chances and starting over when they lead to dead ends.

5. Revision is Brutal

Because I discover the story as I write, my first draft is essentially a very detailed outline. The real work happens in revision—which I often do chapter-by-chapter so it’s not overwhelming when I finish. Going back to tighten everything, plant foreshadowing, fix continuity errors, and make sure the pacing works can sometimes be just as much fun as writing from scratch.

The Pros and Cons of Plotting

Being an unabashed pantser with zero plotting proclivities, I can only speak to this based on discussions I’ve had with other writers and what I’ve read about the plotter approach.

Pros:

• Efficiency: Less wandering, fewer dead ends

• Tight structure: Better pacing, clearer arcs

• Confidence: You always know where you're going

• Easier collaboration: Outlines help when working with editors or co-writers

Cons:

• Rigidity: Hard to pivot if the story wants to go somewhere unexpected

• Lost spontaneity: You might miss organic character moments

• Feels like work: Some writers find outlining drains the creative excitement

• Still requires revision: Even perfect outlines don't guarantee perfect first drafts

The Plantser Compromise

Plantsers try to get the best of both worlds. If I had the capacity to do this, I would. It really does seem like the ideal approach. If you can take this approach, you might:

• Outline major plot points but improvise scenes

• Know the ending but discover the path to get there

• Create character sketches but let personalities evolve

• Plan act structure but freestyle within each act

This works beautifully for many writers. It gives just enough structure to avoid dead ends while leaving room for discovery.

I tried it. I really did. But even when I tell myself I'm going to be a plantser, I end up ignoring my outline and pantsing anyway.

Which Approach is Right?

Have you ever seen the movie, “Good Will Hunting?” (Ooh, definitely going to write a post about that one!) There’s a scene in it when therapist Sean McGuire (Robin Williams) is counseling Will (Matt Damon) on his relationship with his girlfriend, Skylar (Minnie Driver).

This scene is worth watching, even if you’ve never seen the movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltNhwj-F7c8

The same applies here: There is no right approach to writing, it’s about what’s right for you, and the only way you’re figuring that out is by giving it a shot.

Some of the most successful authors are meticulous plotters. J.K. Rowling famously outlined the entire Harry Potter series, starting with the entire series end before she wrote a word for the first book. Others are pure pantsers. Stephen King has said he writes to find out what happens. Many fall somewhere in between.

For me, that's pantsing. Yes, it means my first drafts are messy. Yes, revision takes longer. Yes, I sometimes write myself into corners and have to backtrack.

But it also means I'm always surprised by my own story. It means my characters feel alive to me because I'm discovering them in real time. For me, writing never feels boring or formulaic.

And honestly? The chaos works for me.

Advice for Aspiring Pantsers

If you're a pantser (or think you might be), here's what I've learned:

1. Trust the process. It will feel messy. That's okay. The story will reveal itself.

2. Write fast, edit slow. Get the first draft done without overthinking. Fix it later.

3. Keep notes as you go. Jot down character details, timeline notes, and plot threads so you don't contradict yourself too badly.

4. Embrace revision. Your first draft is discovery. Your second draft is where you make it good.

5. Don't fight your natural process. If you're a pantser trying to force yourself to plot, you'll just frustrate yourself. Work with your brain, not against it.

The Bottom Line

I wrote four books by the seat of my pants, and somehow it worked. Will I ever become a plotter? Probably not. My brain doesn't work that way. Will I keep pantsing my way through future books? Absolutely.

For me, the joy of writing is in the discovery. It's in not knowing what's around the corner and being surprised by my own characters. In A Nightfall of Diamonds, for example, Autumn did something I never saw coming and it worried me that people would see her differently. The story had to go that way though. If readers saw her differently, and it made them judge her or think negatively of her, that was a risk I’d have to take because that’s how the story unfolded. I’m seriously not in charge.

I know, it’s weird, but that’s how it feels. If I already knew exactly what was going to happen, I'm not sure I'd have the motivation to write it down.

So, here's to the pantsers, the plotters, and the plantsers. However you get the words on the page, keep going.

The story will find its way.