Pantsing vs. Structure

Hello all,

Did I say “Pantsing”? Just what in the world does that term mean. As a writer, it means you write by the seat of your pants. No layouts. Simply sit down and write. This is what I did for the Journey Series, and it was difficult, cause I found myself having to go back and reread different sections to make sure everything flowed as smoothly as possible. Sometimes I even had to change thirty of forty pages just to fix the mistake I made. Can anyone say Time Consuming and Frustrating? I can and did. That set me into looking for ways to structure my stories. Of course, it wasn’t working for me to begin with. It made me feel like my creativity was tampered or being held back. Like anyone with change, I fought it. By the time I got to fourth version and second complete revision of that version, of book three of the Journey Series, I was dead set on finding away to structure my stories without tampering my creativity. It took me combing bits and pieces of each references book that I read and studied to create a structured outline to test out. I’m in the process of doing that now, but from what little bit I’ve done, I can honestly say, it’s a lot easier than just pantsing it. 

Hope all have a great and upcoming week.

Remember keep your imagination open and growing. Take time to read and get immersed int it.

Julia Matthews