First Drafts: Pantser or Plotter?

From book idea to publication and beyond.

Happy Saturday! In today’s newsletter you’ll learn:

📚 The difference between pantsing & plotting

📝 What I tried and what actually works for me

☞Tips for that first draft

I still love a notebook for generating ideas

Books can take years to write. And I mean years. I started playing with the ideas for the Donovan novel in 2018, but looking back on my files, the real writing started in January 2019. Here’s the first part of some initial planning (without any spoilers):

Main character

Essi, the sister of Hanna, is a Finnish immigrant domestic.

Motivation

Essi has been blamed for the accidental drowning of her youngest sister, Martta, and doesn’t believe Hanna’s death was an accident.

Initiating Incident

Hanna is found dead in Nolin Creek. Essi is determined to find the murderer. Two police officers arrive; Essi must identify the body.

Wanup house, 1930 —Finnish Canadian Historical Society Sudbury

Interestingly, very little of this changed from early to later drafts. Looking back at some of the early draft chapters, much of it remains intact. That’s not always the case.

Sometimes, a first draft is called the vomit draft—or worse—but essentially it means get everything out and then sift through it later. Writers have all kinds of techniques to get this initial stage done. Some prefer to write short and develop later. Some write at length with plans to edit down. Some start with very detailed outlines (plotters) and flesh out a solid first draft. Some use the first draft to trudge blindly through the snow, feeling their way until the story somehow appears (pantsers).

After writing four books (I’m currently drafting my fifth), I’ve tried all the things. With Surviving Stutthof: My Father’s Memories Behind the Death Gate, the storyline—the events of my father’s life—were handed to me and I wrote about them in chronological order. Writing that book taught me about craft, especially how to write scenes. The early drafts were terrible. Really. Trust me. They weren’t good. But I rewrote and rewrote and rewrote until I had something to be proud of. More importantly, my father was happy with the end result.

My father’s drawing, Stutthof Concentration Camp, 1944

My first novel, Sisu’s Winter War, was a different story. I wrote the entire Winter War section first, but the protagonist, Meri, kept haunting me. I envisioned her as an older woman, someone now living in Canada, who receives a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s. The challenge became writing the new timeline of the story and then weaving the two timelines together. One summer, I attended a summer writing camp with Gail Anderson-Dargatz on Manitoulin Island. Early on, she said I had more than two timelines; I needed to include the marriage years. So now, with three timelines, I had to learn how to braid them together. Working with Gail’s mentorship was invaluable in that process. However, I don’t recommend three timelines on a first novel! It’s quite a learning curve.

Lotta Svärds and soldiers — Lotta Svärd Foundation

I was more systematic with the Donovan novel. This time, I carefully plotted out the storyline and wrote copious notes on the characters, but I also allowed the characters to show me who they were, and changed my outline accordingly. It’s a hybrid approach somewhere between pantsing and plotting. As a result, the storyline didn’t change dramatically from the first to last draft, but the structure certainly did. After sending it to a developmental editor, I changed the way the whole structure, making for a stronger narrative arc, although the events remained the same.

Since writing the Donovan novel, I’ve completed a manuscript about a Finnish war child (I’m currently querying it) that I drafted at Humber School for Writers under the mentorship of Marina Endicott. For this novel, I fleshed out the outline of events, mapping the character’s physical and psychological journey at an early stage, but allowing me to pants along as I wrote draft pages for bi-weekly submissions. It was such a joy to have Marina’s guidance and feedback as I played with these ideas.

Finnish War Children —Finnish Heritage Museum

Now I’m working on a manuscript partly set in Northern Ontario (current day) and Sointula (Finns will know it’s the Finnish socialist utopian society on Malcolm Island, B.C. in the early twentieth century). With this manuscript, I’ve leaned more heavily on outlining. There’s so much freedom in pantsing, but outlining allows me to hone in on what I’m really trying to convey, gives me some goal posts, and keeps me on track. Not that my outline doesn’t change. It does. If a character insists on doing something unexpected, I follow their lead and adjust my plans accordingly. Bi-weekly submissions to my book coach,

Kim Reynolds

, keep the writing moving forward, and her notes, as well as our discussions, will be the basis for revising the next draft.

So, what have I learned about the first draft? For me, an outline is important. I like the creative process of creating the protagonist’s transformational arc and knowing their overall journey before writing. But I also know magical things happen as I write and I allow for the unexpected. I’m not truly a plotter and I’m not only a pantser. Someone should come up for a term that describes someone like me. Any suggestions?

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Here are a few suggestions for first drafts:

• An outline, even a basic one, will give you direction

• Know where you story begins and ends

• Understand the protagonist’s transformational arc

• Rest assured, everything can change

• Let yourself play in the first draft

• Keep chapter summaries as you write

• Revise your outline as your story evolves

• Tell yourself the story in the first draft; layer in elements in later drafts

• Silence your inner critic and have fun!

Are you a plotter or a pantser? How do you write your first draft?

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📚 Upcoming Offerings:

Women Writing Circle

The Women Writing Circle meets on the second and fourth Monday of the month from 6:30-8:00 PM EST. This offering is for paid subscribers. You can learn more about the benefits of subscribing here. I’m looking forward to creating a magical writing community with you, and getting some pages written in 2025.

Spring Group Book Coaching

Join my 8-week Spring Group Book Coaching . This session is ideal for individuals who have an idea for a novel or memoir and need guidance to get started, or who have a draft and need a plan for revision. You will receive a weekly group book coaching session and individual feedback every week on submissions, as well as weekly goal setting. This is a hands-on, interactive, and personalized coaching program that will help you:

• ​Clarify your book idea and goals

• Develop your ideas and hone in on your point

• Participate in craft exercises and discussion

• Create a plan to move your project forward

• Get honest and compassionate feedback from me and your peers

• Stay motivated and accountable to your deadlines

• Find the joy in your writing practice

Happy writing!