I discover the story through the writing. Or so I thought.
I knew that wasn’t 100% accurate. I imagined pieces of the story – key plot points, big emotional moments, action – before I wrote it. Those are like anchors.
But generally I planned to let the characters tell me what they wanted to do. It’s organic that way. They’re not chess pieces getting moved around a board. They’re actors, with agency. (Yes, I know they’re figments of my imagination. Like there aren’t extra people in your head.) It makes for better characters and a better story.
That approach has kind of worked. In writing slang, it’s called ‘pantsing,’ writing by the seat of your pants. The opposite is planning. I don’t think I need to explain that.
I hit a point where I was meandering. I needed to get the story back on plot. So the last few days, yes, life caught up and I didn’t get words written, but I’ve also been doing that planning. Doing a basic outline of the remaining story. I know where everyone needs to go. Now I just need them to get there.
This is called ‘plantsing,’ and it seems like the solution to where I was stuck. I needed more structure while still letting the characters get to where they need to be on their own.
It’s still completely possible a character will decide to do something which completely changes the story and I have to re-write everything. This would be an ‘Elsa’ situation.
If you were not aware, in the original script for Frozen, Elsa was the villain. Then the songwriters came in and played the creative team “Let it Go.” Rather than change the song to fit their plot, they rewrote the entire movie. (https://musescore.com/news/features/let-it-go-changed-everything-about-frozen-how-three-notes-and-a-key-change-built-a-global-anthem/)
I don’t think any of my characters will do that. I hope they don’t. But they might.
Anyway, here’s today’s writing update and context-free quote.
Date 4/7/2026
Words (Draft) 1243
Words (Elsewhere) 0
Words (Total) 1243
Characters (Draft) 7089
Characters (Elsewhere) 0
Characters (Total) 7089
Session Target 980
Wendy nodded. “Right. We’re closed tomorrow night for, well, whatever it is you pagans are doing.”
Rae-Lynn started laughing. “That’s pretty good. Yeah, I wish I could tell you, but they’d kill me. And then maybe you. So, don’t ask.”
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