Unlock the Secret Strategy Pantsers Swear By to Finally Finish Their Novels

The Short Of It

Pantsers and discover writers, or whatever other term you may prefer, are in reference to those writers who prefer to write their way through their manuscripts without much of an outline or without one entirely. The upsides are creative freedom and the joy of discovering parts of your story you didn’t expect. For those who find outlines limiting, like me, it can be the ideal writing process.

However, with this method, it’s also very easy to get lost in the weeds, lose the plot, or meander your way into numerous writing blocks, making the ending feel out of reach.

Rereading

One common piece of writing advice is not to reread your work-in-progress while it’s in progress, but rather to write straight through. I disagree. Or I disagree as a carte blanche rule. If rereading distracts you or disheartens, or tempts you into premature, from-the-beginning rewrite… yes, avoid it.

However, I find it a very useful tool for writers who fall on the pantser side of the spectrum. As I like to discover my story as I’m writing — and as writing a full-length manuscript takes a long time to complete — when I get stuck, rereading has multiple benefits to get me unstuck.

One, the “Oh, I forgot about that” moment. You may have been laying plot or character threads earlier in the story that could and should be picked up again. Or, two, “I could do something with that” moment when you find something that was an incidental detail that inspires a new direction for the story going forward. You are finding inspiration to keep going from the work you’ve already done… meaning that anything new you write will tie back into the larger story, giving it that planned feel even without the planning.

Reading an in-progress work as a deep well of inspiration… as long as you don’t let it distract you.

Action and reaction

I’ve had it happen plenty to me before… I complete a scene, chapter, or other set piece of the story, and then hit the mystery roadblock: “What happens next?”