by Megan Hart

Created on: December 22, 2009

If writing a book were as easy as simply getting a great idea, there’d be a lot more writers in the world. Despite how it might feel to those writers struggling with writer’s block, getting the idea is the easiest part of the process! What comes next, the plotting, pacing, writing, editing, polishing – those are the hard parts. But not impossible.

Writing is an individual process, and there are as many ways to write a book as there are individual authors. However, there are two main styles of writing, and your first, best bet when sitting down to write for the first time is figuring out which style suits you best.

Plotting: If you’re a plotter, you’ll research and take notes on everything your book could possibly need before writing a single sentence. Popular plotting techniques include outlining, taking notes on note-cards (which can then be pinned to a story board or shuffled as the book takes shape) writing character studies, filling out worksheets for goal, motivation, conflict, black moment and more. Many plotters swear by this “pre-writing” method because it allows them to do all the work for the book in advance, so when they sit down to write all they have to do is write the story. Much like quilters who make dozens of blocks, then sew them together to form one large quilt, the plotting method means breaking up the work into smaller chunks so the whole is easier to finish.

Pantsing: If you’re a pantser, you’re more interested in jumping in, feet first, and writing your book by the seat of your pants. Research can be done as-needed, plot points change as your creative inspiration shifts and characters reveal themselves through the writing rather than a series of workshops. Pantsing can result in a finished first draft much sooner than using the plotting method, however, pantsers often spend more time editing and reworking their stories in second (or more!) drafts.

If this is your first book, you might not know which style suits you better until you’ve tried both – and it is possible to work in a combination of styles by plotting out only a chapter or two ahead of time or doing a character study for a few of the characters but not all of them. The thing to remember is that there is NO ONE TRUE WAY in writing. What works best for you is the best way to write.

So, you’ve determined you’re a plotter and you’ve created a thick folder full of notes, or you’re an eager

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