The Method to My Madness

Over a year ago, I wrote a post entitled, “Pantser vrs. Planner,” in which I discussed writers who are pantsers and writers who are planners. “Pantsers” are those who write by “the seat of their pants.” They may have a general idea of where they want their story to go, but they don’t outline. They simply sit down and start writing. “Planners” are fairly self-explanatory; they plot out their story bit by bit, use outlines, and rarely do they depart from their plan. I still fall into the latter category; I plan my short stories and novels, however, sometimes my characters are obstinate and take on a life of their own. When that happens, I usually let them have their way and the story I’m telling is vastly improved.

While every writer has their method to putting pen to paper, or fingertips to keyboard, my method to the madness is odd. For years, I have outlined the scenes of my stories using a pen and notebook. I sketch out the bare bones of the scene, beginning with dialog and minimal description and notes. Beginning with the dialog and few notes, I am able to first hear the inflections of the character’s voices. By their tones, I can easily visualize their facial expressions and how they’re dressed, their demeanor and their movements. Their thoughts and feelings follow. Then, I can picture their surroundings, the sounds they might hear and what they might see.

I take my handwritten scribbles and transfer them to the computer. The outline of dialog resembles more of script/screenplay than a story. Yet, as I said before, with the dialog and notes I can flesh it out into a genuine narrative, choreograph the characters’ movements and expressions, add the descriptions and sounds, thoughts and feelings. The first draft is always rough, but that’s to be expected, and the story is smoothed out through numerous revisions. By the time I’m ready to submit the story to a publication, there are no traces of the outline/script that I began with.

It might be an awkward way to write a story, but this is my method and this method has served me well for years. Through this process, for me the narrative flows better and the story is stronger. Even when the characters “take over,” I still use my outline dialog method.

What do you think? What is your method?