Discovering Your Personal Writing Style
Discovering our personal style of writing can be an adventure, a frustration, or for a lucky few, a non-issue. But in my writing journey, it has been one of the most important lessons I've learned. It's been a long, torturous journey and the end result is an ugly, deformed mutation of everything I've learned. I wouldn't wish my 'method' on anyone else but it works for me and that's what counts. For each of us, there is a style that works. That's the good news. The bad news is no one can tell you what it is or how to discover it, though those who have gone through the process can share some tips. I interviewed a number of authors on this subject and they kindly shared what they'd learned.
First, what do I mean by writing style? Writers have coined two phrases to describe the extremes of writing style: Plotter—one who does detailed planning, and Pantser—one who does no planning. Shelley Bates, a writer with Steeple Hill (www.shelleybates.com.) has an interesting way of illustrating this. She puts Suzanne Brockmann (as a plotter) at #1 (with 80-page detailed outlines) and Diana Gabaldon (as a pantser) at #10 (with pieces of story written over the course of years as they occurred to her, stitched together into a draft).
There are many positions along this scale--probably as many as there are writers.
"I plot as I go, and I get lots and lots of help from my husband and my son. Usually the plot I come up with is so complicated I need too many characters and too many words to explain so I have to boil it down. That's what takes the time. I can't do it on a piece of paper or a spreadsheet. I need to play with the situations." Patsy McNish writing as Alyssa Dean for Temptations.
"I lean slightly more toward plotter than pantser, but still needing room for lots of surprises. I'm too chaotic in my thought processes to be successful if I totally rely on flying into the mist. I have to have a roadmap. But I don't like having too much more than that." Gail Dayton writing for Luna
"I have to admit that I'm pretty much a pantser. Even on the rare occasion that I have a clear outline in my head and write a chapter by chapter synopsis, the minute my characters begin to speak they develop in unexpected ways, say things that lead me on far more interesting paths than anything I can imagine before I begin." Liz Fielding, Rita winner and author of more than forty books with Harlequin Romance
"I start with the "hero's journey" template as outlined by Christopher Vogler and sketch out the basic arc of the book. Then I break it down into chapters and scenes. After that, I write the first three chapters. Lastly, I write the synopsis from both, using what came to me as I began to get acquainted with my characters and extrapolating that into the outline. Sometimes the outline changes as I get to know the characters better." Shelley Bates, Ground To Believe, Mar 04 release with Steeple Hill
"I started my first books with an interesting opening premise and just wrote from there. Of course, my 'interesting premise' didn't often lead to an enduring conflict that would sustain my story right to the end. The more books I wrote the more I began to plan," C.J. Carmichael multi-pubbed with Superromance.
"I don't outline. If I know where the story is going, then it's too hard to write. If you don't know what's going to happen next, you keep coming back to the keyboard to find out." Sandra Brown from an on-line article.
Are there advantages to knowing where you fit? Most of those I interviewed said yes. They felt it had affected their ability to write and also their sales.
"I didn't begin to sell until I nailed down the fact I was a plotter. I no longer write myself into corners." Shelley Bates.
"When I started writing I was very much a plotter but I'd 'make' the story fit my plot and it stifled my creativity. All the books I sold (she has sold 13) have been done by the seat of my pants... and I wouldn't have it any other way." Cynthia Rutledge writing with Loved Inspired and Silhouette Romance
"I feel pretty good about having figured out how to operate the little black box between my ears." Katherine Taylor/Freya Ray at www.freyaray.com
"I plot my books scene by scene so if I'm having a particularly difficult day, I still can write." Karen Rose writing with Silhouette Romance and Special Edition
"My first ten books I was a pantser and one day I realized it was harder and actually more time consuming 'not' to do the upfront work than it was to just buckle down, figure things out, and then write." Susan Meier author of Love, Your Secret Admirer, Marrying the Boss's Daughter, Continuity Series Book 1, 9/03
"I know what I'm like. I think I'm finally at the point where I know what I do and am comfortable with it. The time if 'gets lost' is when I feel pressured because it's not a particularly efficient way to write a story." Patsy McNish.
How do authors discover what works best for them?
Although some of the responders stated they've always known their process or that they fell into it naturally, others spoke of learning it through trial and error. A few described it as on going. The time frame of those who had to discover their method by trial and error say it took from 1 ½ years to ten years to 'lots.' Several mentioned rejected mss as part of their learning journey. Some say they are still figuring out what works. Various things helped the writers discover what worked for them.
"These workshops (Kathy Lloyd who came up with concepts called the "conflict grid" and the "plotting board.") combined with Vogler's work, resonated in my orderly brain and I adopted the combination as my method.," Shelly Bates.
"I took a whole whack of workshops and none of them helped." Patsy McNish
"I learned by writing a very long (at least 600 pages) ms that goes absolutely nowhere and everywhere that I have to have that 'roadmap," says Gail Dayton. "Experimenting is one of the best ways."
"Everything you read or learn seems like the 'right' way. I honestly believe you have to grow into your own process, then learn to trust it." Michelle Celmer, author of Playing By The Baby Rules, a Silhouette Desire.
"I've pretty much tried it all. Now I just do what feels natural." Alice Anderson owner/webmistress of www.cata-romance.com
"It just grew out of experience, practice and, I suppose, my own view of life. It wasn't a conscious thing. " Liz Fielding.
I give this next answer in its entirety because it is a reflection of my own experience: "My first writing was because I was inspired to write, so that would be the instinctive end. Then I labored under a misconception about how best to write a novel, from having done a bunch of reading about the "craft" of writing. I read about people who have plot points on 3x5 cards, know the two functions of every scene, etc blah blah... It totally screwed me up for a while. I'd get the first three chapters written of a novel, and then I'd be trying to push the characters to do what I thought they ought, rather than letting them tell me what they wanted to do next. Eventually I figured it out. If I stay out of the way, and *don't* try to force the path we take, we get there. All I am allowed to ask myself/my characters is "what happens *next*? I don't know how this process works, but I will weave in foreshadowing about things I don't know are going to happen. Cool, eh?" Katherine Taylor.
One question I asked was: How do you protect your style? Answers addressed two avenues—protecting our writing from outside influences that challenge our confidence in what we know works for us, and protecting our creative self from the internal editor. As well, several mentioned the need to be open to change.
"I don't protect my writing method. If it isn't working for the particular story I'm working on, I'll try a new approach. For my latest Superromance proposal I wrote the first three chapters without having any idea where I was headed--except for some vague ideas about how I want the story to end. So much for having all the plot points figured out ahead of time!" C.J Carmichael
"I try not to attend workshop sessions that focus on the arc of a story or on plotting because the content only confuses me. :)" Cynthia Rutledge
"There's really no need to, because I go on my instincts. I do what comes naturally and trust myself. No one can steal that from you <g>." Michelle Celmer, Playing By The Baby Rules Silhouette Desire, 2/04
"I don't force myself to write. I wait until the writing wants to bubble up out of me, and then I let it, without judging it. When writing, I just write. I save editing for later. Left brain and right brain argue sometimes, so it's best to shut one of them up at any given time. Writing is all about the creative flow, and I won't go back and reread what's done until the end of that project, whether it's one page or 300. " Katherine Taylor
Making it personal: Here's some advice I gleaned.
Discovering what works for you may require you explore all sorts of methods to see if they fit. So take workshops. Study craft books. Try out everything. Internalize the methods as much as possible. Pay attention to what works for you and what doesn’t. Do charts give you control without stifling your creativity? Maybe you're a plotter. Or do they hogtie you? Maybe you're a pantser. Do you work best from your head, or do you need a solid outline? Or does something in between work for you, perhaps something that would sense to no one else? Experiment and evaluate. Can you find the balance that works for you? Keep a novel-writing journal so you can evaluate. Write down what you've tried and how it worked. Decide how to incorporate, adapt and make things your own. Do you hear that inner voice that tells you this is for you and that isn't? Learn to get in touch with that voice. Sooner or later, it will come and you need to be ready to hear it. Not only do we know a lot less than we need to know, we also know a lot more than we give ourselves credit for. By that I mean, inside all of us is a storyteller that instinctively knows how to tell a story. We've been learning it since we were infants and our mother's sang us songs and read us Nursery Rhymes. So have fun discovering your personal writing style, knowing it is part of the process.
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