On October 24, 2020, Kasie and Rex previewed the NaNoWriMo pantser or planner debate. Here are the show notes:

Theme for the day

Pantsing a Show on Planning

Agenda

• Join our community on Patreon
• What is “pantsing”?
• NaNoWriMo
• How do you plan your story? Techniques for brainstorming

Link to the podcast.

Segment 1

We didn’t have show notes for today because Kasie’s a slacker and chose to do other things yesterday besides prep them. But it made her think: what else are choosing to do instead of write? Instead of revise? Instead of plan?

So, in honor of next week being the kickoff to NaNoWriMo, she decided to pants this episode and focus on planning which is a delicious kind of irony, don’t you think?

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Segment 2

Do you brainstorm your stories? How?

Some techniques for brainstorming:

• Listing
• Mindmapping
• Freewriting
• Questioning
• Pictures – Pinterest

What happens after the brainstorm?

• Notes
• Research
• Organization
• Outline

Segment 3

Sequel – do you or don’t you?

Questions to ask yourself about writing a sequel:

Is it commercially viable?

Is there more to say?

Has the writer completed the story?

What will the character’s arc in each book?

How many books will you need to tell the whole story?

What details were left out of the first one that need to be in this one?

Segment 4

“Don’t let other people’s labels limit you. Write the damn story and then figure out what genre it belongs to.” — a direct off-the-air quote from Rex as we pants our way into the fourth segment.

Where do ideas come from?

They all percolate, come from the subconscious

Write down the idea or you’ll forget

Stop going around talking about it

Do you revise while you write?

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