A Freestylier Discovers the Art of Structured Storytelling
I've always been a pantser - writing by the seat of my pants seemed to be the only way to churn out stories. However, a sudden medical condition forced me to rethink my approach. The altered way my brain worked left me struggling to focus and string my ideas together.
To keep writing, I needed a new strategy - a system. Initially, I was at a loss. Plotting stories had never appealed to me, and I feared going overboard in the name of planning. But I had no choice.
I sought answers online. How did plotters approach their craft? I needed to understand their ways. As it turned out, I couldn't relate to the extreme plotters, but I needed something to help me stay on track.
I stumbled upon a happy medium - a hybrid approach to story-planning. I crafted a form to help me plot my short stories:
Title: Subject: Genre:
Main Characters: Themes: Tone/Mood: Summary:
Point of View: Setting: Hook:
Opening Scene: Inciting Incident: Plot Point:
Rising Action: Climax: Falling Action:
Epilogue
My plots serve as a starting point, and most of my stories tend to veer off course. Still, it's useful to have that original idea for reference, deciding whether to keep or discard any changes.
With longer works like novels and novellas, I found a similar solution. I created a synopsis using the same form as my short stories, breaking it down into chapters as I wrote.
The beauty of this approach is that it allows me the flexibility to adapt as needed while keeping me focused on my story. I'm still a pantser at heart, but I have a safety net for those moments when I lose focus or struggle with organization.
Have you ever had to change your writing method due to unforeseen circumstances? Share your experiences and how you made it work.
Tonya R. Moore is a Jamaican-born science fiction, horror, and urban fantasy writer from Bradenton, Florida.
[1] AI in Writing: New Tools and Strategies for Crafting Compelling Narratives. (2022). _ Technology Review._
[2] Experimental Narrative Structures: Breaking Away from the Traditional Three-Act Structure. (2021). The Writer's Digest.
[5] The Hybrid Approach: Merging Human Creativity with Artificial Intelligence for Enhanced Storytelling. (2020). Storytelling Matters.
In my quest for a new writing strategy, I delved into education-and-self-development resources to find a balance between my traditional pantsing method and the rigidity of plotting for personal-growth. I discovered the hybrid approach, which melded both styles, allowing me to maintain flexibility while staying focused on my story.
This lifestyle shift towards a more structured writing process allowed me to tackle larger projects with a synopsis similar to my short story form, broken down into chapters for novels and novellas.
