Why I ditched planning my novel for pantsing it entirely

Last month I had to choose between mapping out every chapter in a 50-page outline or just writing the first scene cold. I picked the pantsing route, and let me tell you, after 12 pages I hit a wall where my main character ended up in a library with no clue how she got there. Has anyone else found that overplanning kills the fun of discovery or am I the only one who likes the chaos?

2 comments

2 Comments

coleman.keith6d ago

Act like writing a novel is brain surgery or something. Just write the thing and stop overthinking it.

robert2486d ago

My friend tried the detailed outline route and spent three weeks planning a novel she never wrote a single word of. She finally threw it out, started from scratch with no plan, and finished a rough draft in two months.