So for those not in the know.

A plot is an outline of your story and ‘pantsing’ is to write just of the top of your head. I have a friend who actually wrote a 200k word story in one night (one long, long night) just because the idea ‘came’ to her. And yes I was insanely jealous when she told me!

I prefer to have a plot. I like to nut out the idea of the story as much as possible so I can ‘see’ it playing on the movie screen in my mind. That said I also like pantsing a bit, I feel it gives a more natural touch to the story. More intuitive.

At the moment, aside from when I’m re-working my MS I’m planning book two Feel The Burn in as much as detail as possible. I have some pretty intense fight scenes in the story and I want them as believable and ‘practical’ as possible. Yet I know that I won’t stick to the plot.

In The Arrival I actually plotted out the paragraph topics for a while. It was very helpful in keeping me on track but the paragraphs I ended up with never matched the plotted ones. I feel they sound better, as though the plot was just a first concept. And as long as I hit all the major plot points the story stays on track!

What do you do? Do you have a preferred technique or is it still a WIP?