Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Vow of the Pantser

I vow to never outline my plots. I promise to have almost no idea of where the story is going beyond perhaps a vague idea of the ending. I will start a novel with little more than a handful of characters who have at least a first name. I will name secondary characters as I get to them. I will name places/streets/towns/whatever as they come up. I swear not to write any back story in advance so that my characters can surprise me during the writing process. I may or may not research before hand. I will sit down with my blank screen/paper and let the words flow. I will let my characters do whatever they want when they want without restraint. I will completely and totally make shit up as I go along.



Who's with me?

5 comments:

  1. Hell yeah.

    Ditto that shit!

    That is soooooooo my style as well. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sigh… oh, you spontaneous rebel you… Good luck with that. I imagine that unless that's your plan for a first draft only, you vow to learn nothing of the craft either. There are no rules, only what works, and has worked for centuries... what moves people and what is empty and misguided. If you intend to write for your friends and family, or as a hobby, that's a great and worthwhile exercise... if you intend to publish, print, or craft stories that are moving to others and have both heart and commercial appeal, your statement is essentially "I have no interest in chord theory, or musical structure, learning any of the instruments or mastering the essentials of composition, yet, I shall compose an opera, by letting the notes flow out of my pencil." Salieri, best wishes, say hello to Mozart at the concert for me...

    ReplyDelete