One sci-fi/fantasy author’s journey from discovery writing to structured plotting – and why it made him faster, freer, and more prolific.
The debate over plotting vs pantsing for fiction writers has gone on as long as storytelling itself. Some authors swear by detailed outlines. Others find them creatively suffocating. M.J. Blehart spent years firmly in the pantser camp. Then he tried plotting – and everything changed. His story offers practical wisdom for any writer wrestling with this choice.
What is pantsing – and why do writers love it?
Pantsing means writing without a plan. The term comes from “writing by the seat of your pants.” Some prefer the term discovery writing, which captures the spirit better. You sit down, start writing, and see where the story takes you.
For many writers, this feels natural and exciting. Characters can surprise you. Scenes emerge organically. The story unfolds in real time, and that spontaneity can produce brilliant, emotionally authentic fiction.
M.J. Blehart wrote his first fantasy series and his first sci-fi series entirely this way. He described it simply: “I sat down and typed. The story came to mind. I wrote it out.” It worked – until it didn’t.
Editor’s note: This blog post was updated from an earlier conversation with Sci-fi/Fantasy author M.J. Blehart. Here is a summary of Blehart’s conversation with suspense author A.R. Torre on First Draft Friday from Authors A.I.
The hidden risks of discovery writing
Pantsing has its pitfalls. Without a roadmap, plot can become secondary to character and scene. Writers can meander, write themselves into corners, or finish a draft with no clear throughline.
Blehart experienced this firsthand. One fantasy novel went through an entire rethink mid-draft. His villain stopped feeling like a villain. The ending had to be scrapped and rebuilt. The process took considerable time and effort.
For standalone novels, those rewrites are manageable. For a multi-book series published on a schedule, they can become costly. That reality pushed Blehart toward trying something new.
Plotting vs pantsing: what changed Blehart’s mind
When Blehart conceived a new sci-fi series, he decided to plan it out first. He built the world, developed characters, and outlined each chapter – not in detail, but in broad strokes. A few paragraphs per chapter. Sometimes just three sentences.
What surprised him was how little it constrained him. “I used to think this would stifle my creativity,” he said. “But I found that by creating this general outline, I was open to doing all kinds of stuff when I’m actually writing the chapter.”
He compared it to the Pirates of the Caribbean code – more a guideline than a rule. The outline gave him direction without locking him in.
Plotting doesn’t have to mean rigid planning
A common fear among pantsers is that plotting kills spontaneity. Blehart’s experience suggests the opposite. Unexpected characters still appeared. Scenes still evolved beyond what he’d planned. One entire sequence was rewritten on instinct – and it was better for it.
He simply adjusted and kept writing. The outline was a framework, not a cage. Characters still had room to speak, and when they did, he followed them. That flexibility is what made the process feel sustainable.
How detailed should a chapter outline be?
Blehart’s outlines vary considerably by chapter. Some are two or three short paragraphs. A few run a full page or more. Occasionally, he includes a line of dialogue that came to him and felt too good to lose.
The key is that the outline serves the story, not the other way around. He plots each book in roughly a week. For a four-book series, he completed all plotting in about three weeks – before writing a single scene.
That upfront investment paid off. He published four books in one year.
Plotting is especially powerful for series writers
If you write standalone novels, pantsing offers more flexibility. You can wander in the first draft and fix everything in revision. But series fiction is unforgiving. A detail missing from book one may be impossible to add after book two is published.
Plotting allowed Blehart to plant foreshadowing, time revelations properly, and manage subplots across four books. Cliffhangers became easier to write because he knew where the story was going next.
He now plots every new series from the start.
Subplots, side characters, and happy accidents
One of the joys of pantsing is the unexpected character who steals the show. Blehart had one in his fantasy series – a minor character added to give the world color. She became his wife’s favorite in the whole book.
Plotting doesn’t eliminate those moments. Subplots and side characters still emerge as Blehart writes each chapter. The outline covers the main arc. Everything else still has room to breathe and surprise.
Three-document system for staying organized
When asked how he organizes his outlines, Blehart described a simple three-document system in Microsoft Word. One holds the chapter-by-chapter outline. Two contains all background material – world-building, character notes, technology, and vehicles.
Document three is a glossary of names and places. In sci-fi and fantasy, it’s easy to forget your own invented terms. The glossary keeps everything consistent across a long series.
No mapping tools. No storyboarding software. Just three Word documents and a clear process.
Advice for writers stuck between both approaches
Blehart’s final takeaway applies to both plotters and pantsers: just keep writing. If your plot stalls, push through it. If a scene isn’t working, write past it and fix it in editing. Don’t let the outline – or the lack of one – become a reason to stop.
As he put it: “The idea you plotted out might only be half as good as the idea you’re actually writing.” That freedom exists whether you outline or not. The goal is always to get the story out.
His experience suggests that plotting vs pantsing is less a binary choice and more a spectrum. Most writers end up somewhere in between – and that’s perfectly fine.
How Marlowe can help — with either approach
No matter which side of the plotting vs pantsing debate you fall on, every writer faces the same moment: you have a draft, and you’re not sure if it’s working. That’s where Marlowe comes in.
Marlowe is a non-generative AI-powered fiction analysis tool from Authors A.I. It doesn’t rewrite your manuscript or generate text. It reads your draft and delivers deep developmental feedback — on plot structure, pacing, character arcs, dialogue, theme, and more. Think of it as a seasoned developmental editor available around the clock.
For plotters, Marlowe confirms whether your carefully constructed outline translated into a story that lands on the page. It benchmarks your manuscript against bestsellers in your genre and flags where pacing drags or character consistency slips.
For pantsers, Marlowe is especially valuable. Discovery writing produces raw, organic storytelling — but it can leave gaps in plot logic or uneven pacing that are hard to spot from the inside. Marlowe gives you an objective read before you invest in revisions.
Upload your manuscript in Word or ePub format and get a full report in as little as 15 minutes. Your work is never used to train our AI, and your manuscript stays private and encrypted. Visit authors.ai to learn more.
About M.J. Blehart
M.J. Blehart is an American science fiction and fantasy author who has been writing since the age of nine. He writes full-time and focuses primarily on sci-fi, a passion sparked by seeing Star Wars at age five. He is the author of the Void Incursion series, beginning with Opening Gambit, and the Forgotten Fodder series, beginning with Unexpected Witness – a story set 500 years in the future about clones navigating life as second-class citizens after a war ends. Blehart is also a prolific blogger, publishing daily posts on Medium alongside his fiction work. You can find his books on Amazon and learn more at mjblehart.com.
