No matter which you are, Plotter or Pantser, there’s something extra you can add to your noveling style. Plotting ahead of time can give your story depth and completeness by the end of the first draft and pantsing can bring in new character secrets and plot twists you never would have thought of before you entered your story.
Nobody’s asking you to defect, just try on the uniform and see how it fits. It’s more like an exchange program, really. You might take back valuable insights to incorporate into your own unique style!
For Pantsers
There’s a certain thrill in plunging into a new novel in November without a clue what it’s about, learning something new with each line, but watching your story aim for that classic arc is even more exciting. Even if you’ve never taken down so much as a character’s name in brainstorming notes, you can appreciate the need for story structure. I’m sure you’ve felt your story tug and guide you along through the twists and turns. We all have an instinct for good structure, but it can still be a huge help to have road signs along the way to aim for.
Try out these tips for plotting your way through adventure!
- If you brainstorm only one thing ahead of time, make it the internal conflict of your protagonist. You don’t need to fill out templates, sketches and other paperwork. Instead, just think about what your character is missing. Free-write. What does your character want, believing that it will fill this void? What’s at stake if he cannot achieve it? What’s the worst case scenario? What past event makes your character feel the most vulnerable? How is this used to justify his actions in the story? Last of all, how is the antagonist’s interference personal? Why does he stand in the way and prevent the protagonist from achieving his goal?
- Within the first ten pages, your protagonist has to have expressed a desire for something. It doesn’t have to be declared as a story goal yet, but it should be clear that this thing is important to the protagonist. By the end of these first pages, that thing will either be promised, or threatened. The protagonist will react to the story’s conflict and the time of showing the ordinary life that was, is over.
- At about the quarter mark of your story, things will change again. Your protagonist will take on a conflict much larger than the one he intended when he set out for the journey. This is where you admit what the conflict is really all about. The antagonist has gotten a good look at the protagonist and recognizes him for the threat that he is. There is no turning back.
- Halfway into the story, your protagonist will have serious doubts. He’ll wonder what he got himself into, or what he really wants. He’ll question his motives and look inside to search for answers. There are no answers to these questions yet, but the important part is that the protagonist has begun to look for them. After this point, the protagonist strikes first rather than constantly recovering and reacting to the antagonist force.
- At some point in the second half of the story, your protagonist will lose focus. Renewed efforts have only lead to a dead end and it’s not clear what to do next. At the three-quarter mark, something will happen to lead the character into taking a great risk. This may be a complete turnaround from his methods up until now, but he knows there’s no other way out of this conflict. This action will be the first proof of change that began in the character during his introspection, and this momentum of character arc will carry the protagonist through the climax and into the final battle.
For Plotters
A story should be like an equation. All the pieces should fit together and balance out in the end. As important as it is to get the skeleton of your story on index cards and functional before you spend time drafting it, there is nothing more satisfying than free-writing with an intuitive sense of the structure you’ve crafted for your story.
Try out these tips for pantsing your way through plot points!
- Visualization. One of the best ways you can keep your story logical yet surprising is to close your eyes and picture your characters actions and imagine their thoughts and feelings. Try to become an actor in the story yourself and take on the roles of each of the characters involved in the conflict. Consider the present scene and the moments immediately following. What are the characters thinking? What do they want? What will they have to do to get it? Make sure each character’s inner workings are always consistent and plausible.
- Ask yourself what question you’ll have the reader asking at this point. What promise have you made? Make sure to build anticipation and deliver on every promise you make to the reader. Think about things that have been planted in the story already and how they might be brought back to give a surprise twist to the story.
- Escalation. Each space between two plot points is actually quite a large chunk of story. Take advantage of that time to take small steps of escalation before you reach the next big moment. This will keep your story from lagging and also make the hit from the next key scene more relatable since you will have prepared your reader for this growing conflict by exploring what’s at stake.
- Pacing. Notice the rhythm of your story as you write. Have your characters been constantly on the move? Or have they had time to slow down, think about what’s happened, and talk about their wants and fears? There are many levels of this cycle overlapping throughout a story. Small pushes and small rests take place over the course of the big pushes and big rests. Wherever those peaks and valleys overlap are going to be the key scenes of action and introspection.
- Triumph and failure. Maybe it’s just my Minnesotan showing, but whenever things are going too well, that’s the time to watch out for disaster. Just in those moments when your characters are having a laugh or enjoying a success, something will hit from behind and turn that happy moment into a nightmare. Juxtaposition here is the key. The happy moment will still be fresh in the reader’s mind when tragedy strikes. Remember the same can work in reverse. Whenever your characters are feeling lost, just about to give up, you can throw them a bit of hope to get them back on their feet and fighting.
No matter which camp you come from, I hope you find these tips helpful in at least getting a taste of the benefits of another style of storytelling. Don’t be afraid to try something new, and remember that NaNoWriMo is a great time to experiment!
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