by Janis Patterson

Want to start a lively ‘discussion’ among writers? All you have to do is say something about how ‘plotting’ or ‘pantsing’ is superior. It doesn’t make any difference which; both have their outspoken and extremely vocal adherents. Just make sure you can hold your ground or you have a direct path to an exit. Both sides have passionate adherents.

For those who aren’t familiar with the terms (if there are any of you left out there!) ‘plotting’ is basically an outline, yes, like you used to make in elementary school, but adapted toward a book. Whether it’s the old Roman numeral/Arabic numeral/alphanumeric letter – i.e., bullet point type of outline – or a paragraph style, the outline is a detailed road map of every twist and turn in your story. ‘Pantsing’ is taken from the old phrase ‘seat of your pants,’ meaning you just write and see what happens.

In general, pantsers tend to do more re-writing than plotters, but plotters spend more time on pre-writing work.

I am an avowed pantser. Sort of. My personal system is sort of like a suspension bridge. I know where the story begins. I know where the story will pretty much end – but that has been known to change. I know a couple of plot points in between, though they can be shifted a bit during writing. Then all that’s left is to spin the webwork of the story between them. Does my story change while I’m writing? Yes, it can and has, and I think that’s a good thing, because that means the story is growing organically and being true to itself and – more importantly – to its characters.

Plotters vary from those who put down only a few plot points and notes to those who put in every raise of the hero’s eyebrow and every shrug of the heroine’s shoulders. They also do lots of pre-plotting work, making character sheets, location maps and doing interviews with their characters. I once saw a character worksheet that was at least 5 pages long and included such things as the character’s favorite flavor of JellO and their maternal grandmother’s maiden name. Personally, I’ve had close friends for decades and I don’t know that much about them!

Always willing to improve my craft, I once took a much touted ten-box plotting course that was supposed to be almost magical in creating a book’s structure. A stubborn person, I finished it even though I knew from the second or third lesson that it wasn’t for me. After all, I had paid for it and believe in getting my money’s worth.

Basically you put every turning point and every reaction into one of the ten boxes. An outline, just minus the Roman and Arabic numerals. Using this system I plotted a pretty good romantic suspense novel about Egypt, antiquities smuggling, trust issues, terrorism and a dirty bomb thrown in for good measure.

It will never be written, at least not by me. By the time the last box was filled in I was so bored with the whole idea I never wanted to see it again. Believe me, it shows in the final product when the writer is bored with the project. No matter how good the writer is, the book is lifeless and mechanical.

Don’t think this is a vote either for or against plotting or pantsing. It’s one of those things to which there is no one ‘right’ answer for everyone. The writer has to decide for himself what works for him. And perhaps it is the reader who is the ultimate judge, though most don’t have the slightest idea of the writer’s process. They just know if they like the book or not.

So what do I do? I get an idea for an opening situation, I sit down and I start to write. If the idea is sound, if the story is a good one, the characters just take over and I become more scribe than writer. Do I have to go back and do some re-writing when the plot changes direction? Occasionally, but it only makes the story stronger. Sometimes it surprises me what comes up on the screen as I write, and to my mind that is a good thing. Remember, someone – I don’t remember who – said, “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.”

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, and a wonderful holiday season!

There are two cats in the Christmas tree photo above.

One is easy to spot. You’ll have to look for the other one. But he’s there.

I love my holiday rituals. That includes decorating my home and putting up a Christmas tree, usually the day after Thanksgiving.

Of course, when one has cats, and I do— Well, if you have cats, you know what I mean. If you don’t, I’ll tell you.

Some cats don’t pay any attention to the Christmas tree. That has never been the case at my house. As soon as I start decorating, my feline companions gather, eagerly twitching their whiskers, as they happily contemplate that big cat toy that appears once a year.

Pearl, who went to the Rainbow Bridge decades ago, would carefully remove the shiny tinsel balls and bat them around the living room. She rarely broke one, unless she batted it into a chair leg.

Then there was Gus, also long departed, but still remembered fondly, especially for this story. One morning as I was getting ready for work, Gus was under the Christmas tree, checking out the presents and making the ornaments jingle and jangle. In a loud voice, I told him to get away from the tree.

To be fair, he did. But he was tangled in a string of lights, so he took the tree with him. He dragged it several feet across the living room, accompanied by the tinkle of broken ornaments.

The following year, I tied the tree to a sturdy piece of furniture.

I love the smell of a real pine Christmas tree. But disposing of the dried-out corpse at the end of the holiday season gives me the blues. The remedy for that was to go with an artificial tree. I bought a seven-footer at a local store’s after-Christmas sale. When I got it home, I put it up, just to see how it looked.

That’s when I discovered it would hold a full-grown cat. The cat in question, Dexter, was midway up the tree, resting comfortably on a branch.

The climbing-the-Christmas-tree baton was passed to Bodie and Clio, brother and sister, who appeared on my patio ten years ago with their mother, Lottie. That year as I put up the tree, the kittens enthusiastically climbed it.

The following year, I set up the tree and was getting ornaments out of the box when I glanced up and saw Clio precariously balancing at the very top. She stayed up there long enough for me to snap a photo.

She doesn’t do that any more. The tree is smaller and she’s much fatter.

These days the Christmas tree tradition is mostly playing with the ornaments on the bottom and sleeping under the tree. Lottie likes to make a nest out of the Christmas tree skirt and snooze underneath. So do Bodie and Clio, both too big to climb the tree now. At least I hope so!

Happy holidays!

If you put up a Christmas tree, I hope it stays upright.

Other than changing my social doings, Covid19 has done little harm to my professional or artistic life. I’m still writing, when I’m not fretting over who’s going to be the next president of the United States. My books are still selling. Instead of sitting in Bay Area traffic trying to get from point A to point B, I now Zoom from my office with my writing pals and organizations. The gas gauge of my car is grateful and so is my back.

This is not true for hubby. He is an entertainer, a singer, and musician. He needs an audience, as does every other performer out there. Working steadily since his teens, he’d been singing with the same rock and roll band nights and weekends for nearly 17 years. He’d built up a thriving business during the day entertaining the inhabitants of assisted living homes throughout the Bay Area. What was a career for him, money coming in, a purpose for getting up in the morning, crashed and burned early last March.

But you can’t keep a good man down. And tough times like these, more often than not, show the true mettle of a person. Instead of sulking and feeling sorry for himself — which would have been my route — he is perfecting his piano playing by taking lessons on the internet. He’s learning lyrics to new songs. When he can, he performs with other artists via Zoom. But those are rare days. What he does daily is practice to become an even better musician. And he was pretty danged good in the first place.

Eventually, the vaccine will be available to one and all. Eventually, opera houses and theaters will resume. We will start going back to nightclubs and other venues. Maybe even take a cruise again. But this November and December, we will celebrate the holidays by ourselves. We will be grateful. Not for what we don’t have but for what we do have. That would be our health, our home, each other, and enough money to squeak by on. These are things many others do not have.

But it is what it is. And meanwhile, he waits.

Happy holidays to you and yours. And remember, the heart cannot be separated from those we love. So Zoom your love this holiday season and stay safe. There is a future before us.