Plantsing: How a Pantser and a Plotter Manage to Coauthor
Colleen is a pantser. Rick is a plotter. And we’ve both been writing for decades, so we each have well-established—and very different—writing routines. That sounds like a recipe for coauthorial disaster, doesn’t it? Yet we’ve managed to make it work for three books so far, and we’re both having more fun than we ever did writing solo. What’s our secret?
(4 Reasons I’m a Plotter, Not a Pantser.)
The main ingredient is a technique we call “plantsing,” which combines elements of both plotting and pantsing. And a healthy dose of mutual respect and admiration for each other’s work goes a long way too.
Here’s how plantsing works.
Brainstorm the Basics
We live hundreds of miles apart, so we’ll bounce ideas back and forth by Zoom, text, and email until we have the core elements of the book nailed down: setting, characters, and key plot milestones. Our goal is to create a framework that allows Rick to plot while providing enough flexibility for Colleen to pants.
Map the Next Few Scenes
Once we have a general idea where we’re going, Rick takes a long walk with his wife, Anette, and they hammer out a draft outline for the first few scenes. Colleen then comments on the outline and we revise it until we’re all happy. This turns into a rolling outline as we write, with a handful of new scenes added every few days. Again, the goal is to give Rick’s plotter brain enough short-term structure to function while allowing medium and long-term pantsing room for Colleen.
Sometimes, the scene outline is very detailed—especially where something has to happen in a precise way. Other times, a scene falls solidly into one author’s bailiwick and the outline can be cursory. For example, here’s the entire draft outline (spoilers redacted) for a key love scene that veteran romance novelist Colleen wrote for our November release, I Think I Was Murdered:
Katrina POV
· There’s no way for them to hike out five miles in the middle of a storm, so they stay in the cabin.
· The road leading up to the cabin is impassable by this point, so [REDACTED].
· Romantic stuff.
Be Prepared to Go Off-road
Colleen sometimes realizes midstream that something needs to change, so we always leave flexibility for her “off-road alerts.” For instance, here’s the email exchange that led to us rewriting a character in our Tupelo Grove series (you’ll know her when you meet her):
Colleen: Okay, so I’ve been noodling a bit and in the middle of the night (sleep brings out the best pantsing ideas. LOL) I realized there isn’t any angst for [REDACTED]. What if we create some ripples because [REDACTED].
Rick: LOL, your instincts are right again! Anette & I will turn on the 4WD and go for a plot walk. One kernel of another idea to add to the mix: What if we rewrite [REDACTED] as a fun, smart & kind of amoral bombshell who [REDACTED]. That would make the early courtroom scene more interesting, and it also gives her a natural reason to pop up later because [REDACTED].
Colleen: Ooh I love that idea!!!! Savannah could even [REDACTED]. Maybe he [REDACTED].
Rick: Great idea about them [REDACTED]! And yes, Savannah would definitely [REDACTED].
Edit Each Other’s Scenes
It’s rare that one of us circulates a scene that doesn’t come back with at least some redlining. We tweak each other’s writing for character consistency, plot continuity, or just to make something sound a little better. Our styles are very similar and we both appreciate edits, so we almost never disagree with each other’s changes.
As you can probably tell by this point, plantsing—and coauthoring generally—requires a shared vision and a lot of trust in your partner. Rick welcomes Colleen’s off-roading because he knows she has excellent instincts and won’t lead us into a swamp. Colleen doesn’t mind Rick’s detailed scene outlines because she trusts him to keep the two of us in sync as we work toward the next agreed milestone. And we both have faith in each other (and Anette) to trim and polish our work.
We also don’t have separate writing “turf.” We handle different POVs and typically alternate scenes, but neither of us “owns” a character. For instance, the character that resulted from the off-roading example above appears in both our scenes, and we both edit her lines to make sure she has a consistent voice throughout the books.
Plantsing isn’t for everyone, but we love it and it’s now our favorite way to write.
Check out Colleen Coble and Rick Acker’s What We Hide here:
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