by
Janis Patterson
Just to be upfront, know that I am
a pantser. When I start a book I have a vague idea of what the basic shape of
the story is, but the idea of writing from a detailed outline not only makes me
break out from stress, it also effectively kills any kind of creativity. In
other words, I am bored with the story before it even begins.
I admit my style of writing has its
pitfalls. Sometimes I simply sit and stare at the screen while it stares back
at me. Sometimes an entire day’s work simply must be deleted because it just
doesn’t take the story where I want it to go. To be honest, though, I have had
the same problems when, during my ghostwriting career, I had no choice but to
work from a detailed outline.
Pantser or plotter, there’s only
one solution for when you hit a wall like that – write. Put one word down after
another, again and again, repeat as necessary, until you have something on
paper. If it has to be rewritten or even discarded later, you have something to
work with, a base from which you can go forward. It’s not the dream of writing,
nor is it the easiest task, but it is something every professional writer can
do. Eventually the wall dissolves and the way becomes easier again.
And sometimes there is the Magic
Click, that wonderful moment when everything falls into place and the book
flows like molten butter. You suddenly know exactly where everything is going,
what clues to put in, what is going to happen two or ten chapters down the
road, sometimes all the way to the end of the book – an end that is imminently
satisfying and logical, yet might not have the slightest resemblance to the
original you envisioned.
Magic, indeed. But isn’t that what
writing is? Surely it must be magic to create believable worlds and people from
little more than imagination and caffeine.
Some writers say that writing which
comes so easily is suspect and most likely garbage. Perhaps, but I’ve never
found it so. Usually the post-Magic Click prose is among my best, some of which
has stood as written without any changes at all from various usually tough
editors. I personally think it’s because all the pre-writing is done in the
subconscious and is fairly well edited before it erupts onto the page. Plus,
just getting all those words down (as many as 8.000 during one rather
spectacular session) is a purely joyous rush.
Pantsing is sometimes frightening,
sometimes labor-intensive, sometimes frustrating. It is also great fun and very
rewarding. In my opinion it creates a much more ‘alive’ and vibrant story. The
Magic Click is just gravy.
Janis
Patterson is a seventh-generation Texan and a third-generation wordsmith who
writes mysteries as Janis Patterson, romances and other things as Janis Susan
May, children’s books as Janis Susan Patterson and scholarly works as J.S.M.
Patterson.
Formerly an
actress and singer, a talent agent and Supervisor of Accessioning for a
bio-genetic DNA testing lab, Janis has also been editor-in-chief of two
multi-magazine publishing groups as well as many other things, including an
enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist.
