Writing into the Dark

Writing a story, especially a novel, without a plan or outline. Also known as "pantsing" or writing by the seat of your pants.

The advantage of writing into the dark is that it encourages writing with your creative voice rather than your critical voice. It also imitates the reading process; you discover parts of the story in the same way your readers will.

If you have no idea where the book is going, the reader won't either.

It also helps eliminate boredom in the writing process. Remember: if you're bored writing the story, your readers will be bored reading it.

Writing into the dark can be intimidating at first, as we've all had the critical voice drummed into our heads by English teachers and critical writing groups. But once we let go of the critical voice it allows us to get back to what creative writing is truly about: play.

Source: Smith, D.W. (2015) Writing into the Dark

Writing a book is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
E. L. Doctorow

Planted: Wednesday 14 August 2024
Last tended: Wednesday 2 July 2025