A painting technique book by Maxine Masterfield contains this quote, which could have been written about my seat-of-the-pants approach to creative writing: “If you calculate every step and detail of your work toward a fixed, preconceived outcome, even if you achieve your ends, there are no surprises. And I’ve noticed that whenever anyone attempts this degree of control, the outcome appears contrived. Struggle—or the lack of it—shows in art.”
I think the quote misses an essential point: at some point in your writing you have to decide what to put down on paper, thus you do make a preconceived decision. Too often the use of an outline is wrongly accused of stifling creativity. I use an outline, but it’s never chiseled in stone. I usually change or modify it at least three or four times through the course of writing a book. I have tried “pantsing,” but found that I went off on too many tangents and had to toss out a lot of what I’d written. But writing is an individual process so one should find what works best for you.
I’m a big believer in the power of the subconscious mind. It isn’t that I’m NOT thinking about where the story is going at all, it’s that my subconscious mind is doing most of the work. Blind alleys suggest a mind trying to think its way through a situation, rather than letting it evolve organically. Actually, most writers probably do a little of both. But I really dislike a story where I can see the author moving the chess pieces and the characters’ actions are unnatural and obviously made only to position them for a particular plot move. Your books don’t read that way, by the way.
Yeah, the subconscious mind is always working. My friend and mentor, the Great Andrew Vachss once told me he wrote his books in his head and then all that all that remained was to put the words down on paper. But Andrew had a tremendous intellect. In my creative writing classes I used to emphasize that neither method was “wrong.” A writer has to find what works best for him or her. Thanks for the compliment about my books. I like yours as well.
Great quote, Vicki. I agree. Thanks