My Writing Process

I heard Stephen King once say that “He’d hate to ruin a good story with a plot.” That’s the way of the Pantser.

Most authors fall into one of two categories, Plotters and Pantsers.

Many people learn the structure of story writing in school, where you create a story via a plot (hence the name Plotters) with certain dramatic points scattered along the way until the story reaches its end. It’s a successful way to organize ideas into a framework that carries the reader from start to finish. Once the framework is set, the author constructs the writing to match the story's trajectory.

Conversely, being a Pantser (flying by the seat of your pants) starts with a beginning and a theoretical end point. Everything in between is written as it comes. I always know where I want to start and have a general idea about where the story will end, but everything else is generated from people and experiences in life.

For example, if you were writing a scene about a high school locker room, you might think back to your own experiences… Who was there? What did it look like? Why was it always so humid and smelled of B.O. even when no one was there? It makes it easier to imagine how people might react in a situation.

If a person is being bullied in a locker room, would someone step-up and defend their friend? Would they join in the bullying? If you think back to your own experiences, you can probably predict how the various characters might act or how you wish you might have acted yourself.

It builds a sense of believability in characters if they are forced to choose their actions in situations that the reader can relate to.

One of my favorite parts of being a Pantser is that the story is just as surprising to me as it is to you. As I mentioned in my last blog, many of my story ideas are driven by my historical research and the elements that I find interesting, get worked into the story. But mostly the story is driven by the characters and their personalities. A hero needs to be put into heroic situations, and the villain needs the opportunity to do the wrong thing, even if they are conflicted about it.

The truth be told, some of my best writing comes after a couple of drinks when I can free my mind from the real world in which I live and let my creative self be free for a couple of hours each night. I refer to this as the Hemingway method. It’s worked for me so far and thanks to spell check, I’m generally still able to catch my errors. 😊

Thank you for your continued support and I have a number of exciting projects slated for the rest of 2025, including book three (the last book) in the new series and a screenplay that will likely get made this year.

Subscribe on my website www.jemccarthy-author.com to hear more about my upcoming works. Slainte!

-Jonathan

Enjoying a pint like the characters in my stories.