Pantser vs. Plotter: Authors Debate the Best Approach to Writing

In another life, I’m a writer who meticulously plans out the entire trajectory of my book before I even touch my fingers to the keyboard. When I sit down to work, I refer to the chapter outline I created, which maps out every beat of the story.

So straightforward! So elegant!

Unfortunately, that’s not my approach. My muse-dependent technique is what’s known as “pantsing,” or flying by the seat of my pants, and if I could change it I one-hundred percent would. Sometimes, the end of the chapter means the beginning of a crisis while I struggle to figure out what’s supposed to happen next?

The other side of the writing equation, being a “plotter,” is tougher during the initial drafting stages since it requires the writer to conceptualize every twist and turn before starting, but it ensures a more predictable writing process as the narrative unfolds, and easier editing.

I’ve tried outlining, but my biggest issue with it is I feel disconnected from the story if I don’t let it unfold naturally. I’ve found that outlining limits the serendipity I crave when I’m immersing myself in the writing process. I love it when my characters surprise me, which happened quite a bit as I worked on my last novel, Unleashed Holiday.

I decided to poll fellow writer friends to see which side they’re on in the plotter versus pantser debate, and their answers were illuminating. (But not all that surprising!) 

Every book has come through me in its own unique way, but I usually start with a curiosity about a time period, a topic, or a character. Sometimes I outline the main plot turns too, but that’s about the only outlining I do on the front end. Then I let the characters lead me. That does require more heavy lifting on the back end, but even when I have written an outline, the story always forges its own path.
— Julie Cantrell, NYT and USA Today Bestselling author and managing director of Story Summit

I had to plot out my sophomore Young Adult Fantasy novel, For No Mortal Creature (Delacorte, Fall 2025) because it sold on proposal, which meant providing three chapters and a detailed synopsis. For me, outlining was incredibly difficult because I’ve always been more of a pantser! Not that I completely abandoned my pantsing ways — the manuscript ended up deviating from the outline quite a bit, especially the ending. I guess, in the end, despite my attempts at being a plotter, I was never fully able to get rid of my pantsing ways!
— Keshe Chow, Number One Sunday Times Bestselling Author of The Girl With No Reflection

I do something I call thinking writing for a really long time before I start writing. I also look very hard at the three-act structure and paste out my book in terms of grand ideas and then start to narrow it down. I am a plotter and a pantser because I don’t have time to just be a pantser anymore.
— Ann Garvin, USA Today bestselling author of Bummer Camp and founder of The Tall Poppies

My process is a hybrid of plotting and pantsing. I think of my plots in three acts and generally know how each act will end, and then I have to write the story to discover what happens along the way. I start with a synopsis that tells one possible route to get from the beginning to the end, but once I start writing, the plot often changes based on fresh ideas. The way I think of story is very character-driven, so if a plot point doesn’t make sense for a particular character once they’re more fleshed out, I’ll change the plot to be more in line with how I imagine that character feeling and acting.
— Sarah Hawley, author of Servant of Earth

I use a compromise between plotting and pantsing: the flashlight method. I create a basic plotline in advance, but only plan the individual scenes when I’m about to write them. This keeps me curious while writing, and allows me to follow the story’s energy. It was especially helpful when writing The Geographer’s Map to Romance (April 8th), which is full of sudden explosions and about-turns.
— India Holton USA Today, Indie, and international bestselling author of The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love

Back when I was a pantser, it took me a lot longer to get my work into polished shape, and editing was a huuuge headache. My first drafts were always way too long. Now that I outline, every time I begin a new project I feel like I’m starting from a place that’s so far ahead of where I used to be. By the time I type THE END, my work is more polished than my pre-plotter manuscripts were even after several rounds of revisions.
— Emily Krempholtz, author of Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore

I have proudly always considered myself a pantser, because how could it be fun to sit down and write every day if you know exactly what’s going to happen in the book? But I’ve modified my style. Now I’m a hybrid. I “pants” along for the first bit, and then, when I know the character and where the story is heading, I buckle down and plot out the middle bits. It’s still a lot of fun doing it this way, and, as a bonus, it doesn’t take me so long to write a book, because my main character and I aren’t aimlessly drifting through her house while she takes out the trash and runs the bathwater.
— Maddie Dawson, bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners

I am a very solid pantser because I discover my story as I write it. For all of my books, I start chronologically, but end up going back to edit chapters if I decide to change the plot. I usually begin my story knowing the ending (vaguely), and need to figure out how to get there. Outlining doesn’t work for me because sometimes I end up creating entire characters who weren’t supposed to be there. I also enjoy the freedom of not having an outline.
— Eve Chung, USA Today bestselling author of Daughters of Shandong 

Before being a rigorous plotter, I was a pantser, and found my drafts ended up being very messy with edits that felt endless. I was never sure my edits were actually improving the manuscript. So now I’ve gone to the intense plotter side of the spectrum and my drafts are so much cleaner. The outlining process looks like this for me: identify the heart of my novel, then fill out character sheets for the protagonists, followed by plotting the beats using Save the Cat. I get feedback from my critique partners on my Save the Cat outline, make edits, then it’s time to start writing!
— Taleen Voskuni, author of Lavash at First Sight