Today on my blog I want to share my review of Writing into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith. For those who don’t know, this is a non-fiction guidebook all about pantsing. Below you’ll find the book cover and description, followed by my review and a little more from me on my experience as a pantser.
Writing Into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith
With more than a hundred published novels and more than seventeen million copies of his books in print, USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith knows how to outline. And he knows how to write a novel without an outline.
In this WMG Writer’s Guide, Dean takes you step-by-step through the process of writing without an outline and explains why not having an outline boosts your creative voice and keeps you more interested in your writing.
Want to enjoy your writing more and entertain yourself? Then toss away your outline and Write into the Dark.
“Dean Wesley Smith’s blog gives both a slightly different view of the publishing world than I’d seen before and detailed hands-on “here’s how to get from A to B” instruction.”
— Erin M. Hartshorn, Vision: A Resource for Writers
This book is available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and all other retailers.
Writing Into the Dark – My Review
This book has been a life changer for me. I opened it on a sunny Sunday afternoon about three weeks ago and didn’t put it down until I was finished. It just made sense. It was as if the author was writing about me and how I write. Of course, he wasn’t. He was writing about his own way of doing things, but it really resonated. It also made me feel more confident in what I was doing. This book talks about what many of use call pantsing. That is where we don’t plan or plot, we just write. Going into the unknown so as to speak.
This book also covers outlining but not in the way that I was used to reading about. In this book, Smith talks about how he outlines after each chapter and I thought it was a great idea. He said that he makes notes of the important aspects of every chapter such as what the character is wearing, what happened in the chapter, etc. A couple of lines for each so that it’s easy for him to refer back before he begins his writing day. I actually like this idea and think it would be really useful when writing a series.
There was one part of the book that I’m not sure I agreed with fully and that related to rewriting, but overall, I love the book and would highly recommend it to anyone who questions how they write. I’ve given it 5 stars.
Some More on Pantsing
There have been times over the past year where I’ve felt like I was doing everything wrong. I read about plotting and planning. I read about the importance of outlining and knowing where your story is going. I didn’t do these things. I didn’t do any of them and yet my stories came out complete. I enjoyed the process and I loved being the blind author who never knew what was going to happen next. I think that was one of the big reasons why I avoided plotting. I was afraid of losing the joy and excitement that comes with writing.
I have tried planning. I’ve tried plotting out and jotting down ideas for stories, and I’ve enjoyed doing this too. But I did find that when it came time to write the story, it was never the same. I didn’t follow the outline or plan at all and what my creative side wrote was always completely different to what my critical left side brain has spent hours planning.
I will say, that character profiles are great and they can be very helpful. They let you get inside your character fully and there are some great questions you can answer. You might not use this in your novel, but you will find that because you know your character inside out, that their traits, their fears, their little quirks, end up coming out in the story anyway.
I don’t want this to be a really long post so I’ll end by saying. Trust in yourself. Trust in your ability to write no matter what way you choose to do it. Find what works for you. Try planning and plotting if you’re a pantser. If you don’t like it that’s fine. If you’re a plotter try pantsing. Give yourself the choice to choose what works right for you. At the end of the day, readers don’t care whether you spent hours planning or not. What they care about is the story and how it captures their attention and how it makes them feel.
Until next time,
Keep reading and writing,
Amanda
Amanda J Evans is an award-winning Irish author and writing coach. Amanda writes adult romance that often crosses into paranormal and fantasy. Growing up with heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, her stories centre on good versus evil with a splice of love and magic thrown in too. Her books have all won awards and her novella, Hear Me Cry, won the Book of the Year Award at the Dublin Writers Conference 2018. Amanda is also the author of Surviving Suicide: A Memoir from Those Death Left Behind, published in 2012.
