I have always been a seat of the pants writer, sometimes abbreviated as “SOTP” writer. This is in stark opposition to the other type of writers roaming the steppe called “Plotters”. Now while I have at times made tentative forays into the lands of the Plotters, I generally find myself high-tailing it back to the familiar SOTP ranges as soon as possible. Is there a reason for this? Perhaps it is that I am lazy or that plotting feels stultifying in some way, or there may be other answers. Yet even while I know that my proclivity is to write in a SOTP way, I also acknowledge the fact that many times my “organic” SOTP writing projects peter out or get lost in interminable rabbit trails.

Right now I am about to start a major revision on my novel, Talismans. The novel has problems in both structure and plot. While my editor noted that several of the main characters were on the mark and finely drawn, with clear goals and motivation, the main protagonist was not. Looking back, I enjoyed writing the scenes with some of my characters – the ones my editor loved by the way – but never got to the same level with my protagonist. Thus, he is reacting most of the time and has a vague story goal and motivation. One other problem noted by my editor is the inconsistent length of chapters. Some of my chapters are three pages long while others are twelve or fourteen pages in length. I think this is directly related to how much interest I had in writing the scenes in the chapter.

So how does one approach fixing a SOTP novel that has gone astray? The simple answer: Stop fighting structure. Right now my plan is to embrace the three act structure and try and fit my novel into fairly evenly divided chapters. Will I be a ten page thirty chapter purist? No, but I will strive for something that is closer. As I undertake this revision I am going to try and incorporate many of the suggestions my editor made. Not all will make it into my next draft but I am guessing that most will. Once I got over the depression caused by looking at thirty pages of notes in red (why is it always red?) I realized that most of her suggestions made sense and would strengthen the book. The big question to answer is if I am disciplined and determined enough to wrangle my SOTP novel into a more structured piece of writing. Time will tell.