There are approximately 8,193 notes in my Notes app. Even more in my Notion.
Iâd say more-or-less 48% of them are lists. Plans. Plots, if you like.
I live my life via lists, plans, and plots, or nothing would ever happen. Theyâre comforting and they make me feel like Iâm making progress, and sometimes they are the only way I can get started because otherwise doing the thing feels too overwhelming.
However, I only use those lists, plans, and plots about 50% of the time. I make them, then I stand up purposefully and stride about, then I totally ignore them and start on step 17 instead of step 1, or sometimes a totally different task altogether, and thatâs often okay because then the things get done.
Sometimes, I make no plans and just begin. Anywhere. Like the chaos-monkey I am.
This mix of approaches applies to everything: day trips, events, gardening, house renovating, trapeze, and â yes â writing my books.
So, you might have wondered â because a lot of people do â should you outline your book first? Or just start writing it by the seat of your pants?
Good question, to which I have no solid answer. However, I can give you a few guidelines, recommendations, and things to try out.
Thereâs an old saying that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, and that is broadly true of a lot of situations.
Just not all situations, and writing is one of them.
Having said that, I do always end up with an outline for my book. I just donât always write it before I write anything else.
So letâs dig inâŚ
The virtues of plotting
If youâre the kind of person who metaphorically punches themselves in the face with perfectionism â if, for instance, youâre frequently paralysed because youâre trying to write the absolutely perfect first line â creating an outline might be for you.
Thereâs no pressure to write anything good because technically youâre not writing when you outline; youâre plotting. Scribbling notes. Articulating thoughts and ideas and slamming them down in bullet-point form, or in a table, or onto a template.
And that can be incredibly freeing.
What better than just flinging a few bullet points down as fast as you can think them up? All the things you want to cover in this beautiful book of yours, there at a glance?
Or, do it in real life with colour pens and paper and a spider diagram, or colourful post-it notes, so you can see the shape of your book.
Then, when you have a rough outline, you can add more bullet points, and more â until youâve all-but-written your book by stealth, and all thatâs left is to flesh it out and add some narrative.
Plus, sometimes itâs just cathartic to make a plan then decide to not use it at all, and start here instead.
Plotting and outlining can be magic for people who struggle to being, and for people who think they have to wait for inspiration before they start writingâŚ
But outlining isnât for everyoneâŚ
The delights of pantsing
Sometimes the joy of writing comes from just opening your brain and letting it all trickle out onto paper.
Raw feelings and crude ideas, splattering all over the place, meandering and flowing and careening along. This type of writing can feel like magic, because it feels like itâs coming from outside of you; like the work is writing itself.
This is, I guess, the flow state for me: it feels something like I would imagine those zombie ants feel â with someone else in control, steering me along, no worries or decisions to make â just words, tumbling out.
Sometimes, the most beautiful ideas and phrases can come from pantsing.
And, of course, sometimes itâs incoherent gibberish, but thatâs okay too.
Which is where we come back to plotting.
Plotting AND pantsing
Because no matter which method I write by, at some point, thereâs always a plan.
There has to be.
Otherwise you end up with the formless yowling of a hungry cat, and nobody wants to read that.
So, once Iâve spilled my brains forth, I take a little break and read it through, perhaps with a highlighter pen, and see whatâs there.
What can I use?
What can I ditch?
What will be useful elsewhere?
And I make a retrospective plan that I can use to edit my pants into a piece that makes sense to me and, most important, to my reader.
Just start â thatâs all
If youâve been trying to start writing your book but somethingâs in the way, try both of these methods.
Try outlining, and if that doesnât work, try just ranting it out onto a blank page â write about the fact that youâre not writing, and thatâs super frustrating. Write about why itâs important to you. See what happens.
And if all else fails, then ask for help from someone whoâs seen all the reasons, challenges, obstacles, and excuses writers make.
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p.s. Whether youâre a plotter or a pantser, I have plenty of tools that can help you. If youâd like to work with me on that, check out Book Coach In Your Pocket: