Hi Reader,
The division between plotters and pantsers is often treated like a feature of the drafting process only.
Some people plan ahead, some people wing it.
Some people draft with an outline in hand, some people don’t.
Then, those writers are supposed to meet at the end of the drafting process and head into the revision journey together from then on out.
That’s a problem, though, because the difference between plotters and pantsers doesn’t magically disappear when you type “The End” on your first draft.
The difference between plotters and pantsers continues into the revision process. Or at least it should.
Too many pantsers think they can write with wild abandon but still revise like someone who meticulously crafted every reveal, character arc, and setting detail in advance.
Unless you are that magical person who can vomit out a perfectly structured draft without any forethought, your first draft will not look like the first draft of someone who wrote with a functional outline.
And that means you can’t treat your draft the same way when you go to revise.
Quick Note: Functional was the operative word there. If your outline was a hot mess you should be revising like a pantser regardless of how much thought you put into your story before you started writing.
The question then becomes, how should a pantser revise?
How do you corral all the weird and wonderful ideas in your draft so that they can become a coherent, cohesive story?
You embrace a revision process tailored to the story issues that typically show up in pantser-written drafts.
The most efficient & effective option for messy drafts is a reverse outline because it allows you to take that messy story and condense it down to the most important parts.
That means you’re not wading through all of those half-baked scenes and awkward descriptions. You’re not getting bogged down in irrelevant-for-now worldbuilding questions. You’re not trying to polish a scene that isn’t even a coherent part of the whole yet.
Instead, a reverse outline gives you an opportunity to analyze the most important story elements—plot structure, conflict development, character arcs, and overall story logic—in isolation and without wading through the entirety of your draft.
Don’t worry, you will also address scene and sentence-level issues, you just won’t do that until after the story as a whole makes sense.
For a plotter, reverse outlining would probably be a waste of time (unless of course they ditched that perfectly plotted outline along the way).
But for a pantser, it’s a way to see where all those meandering story trails led. And it’s an opportunity to get your story back on track by revising your story map first and then applying that new plan to your draft as a whole.
While it may take multiple iterations to get that plan to work cohesively, rewriting 10 pages multiple times is far less daunting than multiple rewrites of a 400+ page novel.
The idea that revision should be one-size-fits-all is a myth. The idea that pantsers and plotters somehow come together and do the same things in revision is a myth. Don’t let it be a myth that keeps you stuck and revising ineffectively.
For more revision myths that keep writers stuck, check out Episode 38 of the Better Writer Podcast here.
Ready to go all in on strategic revision?
Hit reply and let’s talk. I’m here to help!
Better Living
Thank you to everyone who reached out after last week’s newsletter.
Minerva is safe and healthy and seems completely unaffected by her adventure! We are still so grateful to everyone who helped us find her and to those who helped reunite us!
Here she is safe and happy over the past week!!
Better Reading
I’m still eagerly awaiting the book I mentioned last week, The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass* by Leslye Penelope.
In the meantime, I’m reading Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife* by Deston J. Munden. If you want proof that even the most mundane plot events can be infused with tension and suspense, check out Munden's prologue. I’ve never felt so anxious about chopping carrots!!
Thank you for reading, have a wonderful week, and happy writing!
With love,
Olivia
Your story matters. Let's make it great.
Curious to know how I can help? Check out my services here. I can't wait to work with you, so you can write the book your future readers are waiting for!
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