The Joy of Writing

I'm what you might call a pantser when I write. I write by the seat of my pants, and I prefer it that way. I discover things the same time my characters do, and that entertains me. Oftentimes, I discover my subconscious has laid the groundwork and I just need to follow the plot, in a manner of speaking. I've only "known" my way to the plot for a couple of my stories, and honestly, it made them harder to write. Regardless, I still enjoyed the process.

With the book I'm working on now, I can't say I know the plot (I do, but I don't know all the steps to get to it) but it feels very much how all the "writing books" tell you to write. "Then this has to happen, then that has to happen." For me, that takes all the fun out of it. Every author has their own process. I'm not inclined to "Insert requisite sex scene here," or "insert black moment here." No. It has to happen naturally. Organically. It has to flow with the writing and not stop the action because I've reached a certain point. One of my favorite writing moments was in THE DEMON FROM THE CRYPT when I wrote who Elspeth's vision narrator is. I didn't know until the day I wrote it, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I found out the same time Elspeth did. The woman who did the audiobook narration shot me a message when she reached that point in the story. "Did you know it was him all along?" Nope. Not knowing allowed me to feel all the emotion at the same time Elle did. 

The joy of writing. Or is it the joy of pantsing?

I don't know everything that's going to happen in my current work in progress. I know the main plot, I know the subplot. I know how things should be structured. I have a lot of rewriting to do next time I get bogged down on structure to work on characterizations (I have a terrible habit of not putting things I see in my head to paper, which means going back later so readers can see the same things). 

My point in all of this is that although there are "rules" to writing, I've found that following a boilerplate or an outline diminishes the discovery process. Yes, books need to have structure, and mine do. But writing from a standpoint of "this has to come next" crushes my creative spirit. I can generally "feel my way," and on those occasions I stumble, I can go back and fix it. Add what's missing. Supply the structure that needs to be there. I know how all of this is supposed to work, but interrupting my flow to pay attention to structure is counterproductive. I've read more than my fair share of books where the author clearly stopped the story to "insert required scene here" and I don't mind telling you there is at least one author I no longer read for that very reason. 

Books need structure. I get that, but they need to flow seamlessly. I hate that I find myself thinking in terms of structure instead of flow while I'm writing this one. By the time the first draft is done, I'm sure I'll have satisfied both requirements - structure and flow. Just need to keep soldiering on.