I’ve been in the medical writing business for 15 years. The content I’ve worked on has been varied – from journal articles for publications to educational content for medical meetings. Medical content must be accurate, well-structured, and aligned with underlying objectives / key messages.
In this context, pantsing (translation: writing by the seat of your pants) is not an option. Content needs to be planned and thoroughly reviewed at each stage of development. Clients may be paying a sizeable fee for this work, so getting it right as quickly as possible and according to budgeted hours is crucial.
Since I’ve been writing fiction, I’ve used the same approach as I have when medical writing. Aside from the fact, it’s how I’ve been trained and how I’ve worked over the years, I find working according to an outline works well for me. It allows me to break down the writing into clear segments with specific roles and purposes. It allows me to build coherent stories and define character arcs to ensure things change as and when they need to.
That’s not to say I disagree with the practice of pantsing. In many ways, I’m envious of those who can sit down and see where the story takes them. It’s just that – for me – having that scaffold and a plan in place helps me to get the structure right. I like to have oversight of the entire story and have a sense of what the result will look like.
That said, I do tend to tinker and experiment; explore what happens if we change scene x or kill off character y. Also, outlines can change in real-time as the content is drafted. Sometimes I realize planned behaviours may be out of character, or I think of an alternative event that would generate more impact and work better for the story. But this always comes after the initial plan has been drafted.
I’ll continue to outline for the foreseeable future. It’s the way I’m used to working. At some point, I’m sure I’ll pluck up the courage to write a manuscript by the seat of my pants (translation: trousers), but for now, that is not the plan.
