Painting Myself Into a Corner

I’ve long admired writers who are “plotters.” These brilliant minds outline every major aspect of their manuscript before writing the first paragraph. They flesh out characters in advance, know where to plant the twists and the turns, predetermine where their protagonist will fly and where she will fail, and even establish pacing based upon the number of pages in their yet-to-be-written manuscript. Impressive.
 
And then we have the “pantsers” who scurry forward, roughly jotting down scenes, clues, and characters based upon a vague idea without any clear notion of where it will all end. It just sort of happens.
 
I’m a pantser. I allow my imagination to take me down endless paths, whipping up characters and scenes as I move along, chasing after villains that I have yet to clearly define, and dropping clues all over the place, only to go back and retrieve those that really don’t matter. I love the freedom of writing as a pantser, but it invariably leads me to dead ends with no obvious way out. I admit that painting myself into a corner can be damned frustrating.
 
I carry a HUGE eraser, a bucketful of self-forgiveness, and incredible tenacity. When I find myself unable to move the plot forward, I take some time off, ruminate, and allow fresh solutions to blossom. Then I dive back in with more useful supportive cast members, fewer clues, a unique twist, and tighter pacing. I often surprise myself when the ending is far beyond what I imagined it might be and a much, much better read.
 
It takes a good deal of self-reflection and an awful lot of rewriting for me to finally pen an intriguing mystery, but I enjoy the learning process. I’m adapting, stretching my imagination, developing storytelling skills, adding intriguing layers to characters, and ultimately discovering better solutions. There is a profound sense of self-fulfillment found in the process of honing my craft, in developing my own creativity, and ultimately becoming a better writer.
 
I have to admit that for me, it’s all about the journey.