Leaving the Pantser in Me Behind

by Tessa Barrie01/11/201901/11/2020

In June 2016 an idea for a book I'd been carrying around in my head for years, began clogging up my thought process. I needed to write it, a.s.a.p. and, as luck would have it... I was made redundant. So I threw myself into writing Just Say It. After I started it, I realised I had little else apart from the main character and, after writing the first draft, she was beginning to sound alarmingly like me. The pantser-style first draft was nothing more than an autobiographical unburdening of my life to date, with a large dollop of post-redundancy frustration on top. After a total overhaul of the original manuscript my MC, Lisa Grant, thankfully, took on a life of her own. It took me four and a half years to finish her story. The storyline often going off at tangents, which produced unrealistic MC goals and hours of frustrating rewrites.

Happy NaNoWriMo Day 2019.

I was going to take part this year, but I couldn’t wait for the 1st of November. I recently finished writing my first novel, but quickly missed the buzz that I get from having ‘something on the go’. So I launched myself into my current work in progress, which I’m loathed to tear myself away from as it seems to be going well at the moment.

I will look forward to taking part in the 2020 NaNoWriMo challenge.

In June 2016 an idea for a book I’d been carrying around in my head for years, began clogging up my thought process. I needed to write it, a.s.a.p. and, as luck would have it… I was made redundant. So I threw myself into writing Just Say It.

After I started it, I realised I had little else apart from the main character and, after writing the first draft, she was beginning to sound alarmingly like me. The pantser-style first draft was nothing more than an autobiographical unburdening of my life to date, with a large dollop of post-redundancy frustration on top.

After a total overhaul of the original manuscript my MC, Lisa Grant, thankfully, took on a life of her own. It took me four and a half years to finish her story. The storyline often going off at tangents, which produced unrealistic MC goals and hours of frustrating rewrites.

This time around, I am more organised. The plotter in me has found her voice, which means I’ve got off to a quick and positive start. This time, the idea for An Honest Review came from a short story I wrote in 2018, which was longlisted for a competition. I loved those characters and took my time creating them. I knew them all so well, down to their inside leg measurements, rather than inventing characters as I went along, as I did for Just Say It. So, I took the characters in the short story and starting plotting a novel around them. Having taken the time to plan the story, I know what exactly what happens at The End because, I’ve already written what will, most likely, be the final chapter.

I’m serious about getting a novel (or two) into print, but I’m no spring chicken and need to get a move on. So I’m leaving my pantser-style writing behind and becoming the plotter I need to be.