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How to Revise like a Pantser ft. Big Hero 6 Gifs

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you've had a great week so far and that you have a great Easter weekend ahead! We plan on going to my grandparent's on Friday to celebrate Easter with family and spending the night there so that'll be a fun time. :)

Alright, so I contemplated doing an Easter-y post on here but I wasn't even sure what that would look like... So instead, I thought I'd do something fun and happy in honor of the celebration of Easter on Sunday.

Without further ado, here is your Big Hero 6 gif filled revising process from a real life pantser:

The end of your first draft is in sight! You type like crazy, stay up past your normal bedtime until it is finished. When you type The End, the satisfaction that you actually did this thing sets in. Guys, it is the sweetest feeling ever. Knowing you worked so hard to complete this draft and came out on the other side. Unscathed? Perhaps not. But triumphant? Definitely!

That first draft is a total disaster. Like really, why can't I just make life easier for myself and do at least some plotting before I start a first draft??

Take a break from that mess of a first draft because it hurts to look at it.

Come back to it sooner than you should because its a total wreck but you love it anyways. The characters are calling you! They don't like to be left alone for too long.

And then, because your a pantser this is when the real writing and plotting and planning begins. All that worldbuilding, character outlines and plot structuring you should have done at the start? Yeah... you have to do all that now.

You finish doing all that stuff you should have done before writing the first draft and can now finally start working on actually revising your draft. It takes longer than expected with lots of bumps and sudden changes along the way (maybe even some major book surgery) but it finally gets done!

You're story is by no means finished but at least now the revision process is over and you can start working on the details! Being a pantser is hard... It requires a lot of work, especially after finishing the first draft. We get to know our characters, our story and our world as we write it and then figure out the details, structure, arcs and worldbuilding after the fact. That means a lot of book surgery happens, lots of adding and deleting scenes and overall making for a long (and kind of messy) revision process. But at the end? It's amazing to know you did all of that. You didn't give up even during those really hard moments when you thought you were wasting your time. I don't know... for me, there's nothing quite like the feeling of finishing a first draft and revising said first draft. There's this sense of accomplishment and joy that it brings me.

I've started to semi-plot things out in the beginning, but it took me years to get to this point. And even when I do plot out a few pieces of my story, this is the process I still go through because no matter what I do, I'll always be a pantser haha

Are you a pantser or a plotter?? 

Comments

  1. I’m grinning SO HARD right now. I just watched Big Hero 6 for the umpteenth time two weeks ago, and I am re-obsessed. XD
    And all of this is SO TRUE. I lightly plot my books, so I’m not a technical "pantser," but STILL. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL.
    Awesome post, Melody!

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    1. Haha! That's awesome! I'm so glad this post made you happy! (and re-ignited your Big Hero 6 obsession ;)

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  2. Bahaha--this is so true. I used to completely pants my books, but I'm beginning to plot my books more. (I've gotten tired of heaving to fix ~everything~ every time I finish a draft, haha.)

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    1. Me too! I just started attempting to do more planning before I write the first draft. Although I have a feeling I'll always be doing the worldbuilding and character building after the first draft haha

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  3. Love this movie.
    As a pantsert, I never plot, not even for drafts two or three ... I might do a brief outline though ;p I'm just too lazy for more.

    keturahskorner.blogspot.com

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    1. Haha yep I used to be the same way. I now do a little more planning but never a full outline. Its more fun to make a mess of a first draft and discover the story as I go haha

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  4. Hahahaha!!!! 😂

    I love this!! Good job, Melody.

    I myself have no idea the pain of being a pantster...I'm a planter (I believe that's the correct term) all the way!

    ~ Lily Cat (Boots) | lilycatscountrygirlconfessions.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks! :) Haha! I believe it's called a planner, but lucky you! Though I'm sure planners have their own woes to deal with. ;)

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  5. I'm a mix and I still deal with this problem. XD

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