Plotters, Pantsers and Plans for 2025
Writers tend to start a new year the way they start a new writing project. Some are plotters, some are pantsers, and others are somewhere in between. Plotters outline every step before they begin. Pantsers have only the vaguest of plans. They write as it comes — that is, by the seat of their pants.
Plotters have their goals for 2025 mapped out in detail. Pantsers have a mental list of outcomes with, as yet, no specific plans to get started, let alone finish. Plotters risk disappointment and frustration when the year doesn’t go as planned. Pantsers risk spending too much time on the couch and too little time getting things done.
It’s not that one side is right and the other wrong, in writing or life. Our Creator has endowed each of us with a unique personality. He knows which way we tilt on the plotter/pantser scale. He comforts the plotter whose plans have gone awry. He nudges the pantser who has trouble getting started. He is, after all, the Author and Finisher of our life stories (Hebrews 12:2).
How then should we handle our plans (or lack thereof) for 2025?
Try this Old Testament concept: Inquire of the Lord.
Kings and prophets took their questions into the temple, knelt before the altar, and asked God what to do. King Hezekiah, for example, received a letter from his enemy, boasting that nothing could save Jerusalem from the coming battle. Hezekiah carried the letter into the temple, rolled it out before the altar, and prayed.
Be like Hezekiah. Take your plans for 2025 — be it a detailed outline or a blank page — to the altar of your soul. Roll it out before the Lord. Pray: Here are my plans, O God. What would You have me do?
The Lord answered Hezekiah, via the prophet Isaiah, with a message of hope (read the whole story in 2 Kings 19:9-36). Likewise, God will hear your prayer and answer — possibly through the advice of a godly friend, perhaps with the whisper of the Spirit, maybe out of a familiar Bible passage. His response might come in one glorious vision. More likely, He’ll reveal it to you bit by bit. Obey … take one step, and He’ll guide you to the next one.
Know this: God is a plotter, not a pantser. He doesn’t make it up as He goes.
“Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16b-c, NLT).
Unsure of your plans for 2025? Inquire of the Lord. The Author of your story already knows the answer.
Bless your plans, bless your words, bless your calling!
Shirlee Abbott
Plotter, pantser or somewhere in between — where do you fall (in writing and in life)? What’s on your to-do list for 2025? Lay your plans before the Lord with ears open to His response and a heart willing to do things His way.
I am a definite pantser. I have not had a single idea in so long. I joined Compel to hopefully get the creative juices flowing again.
I really love this! I am a pantser, always have been. My problem is…I have too many ideas that it’s overwhelming. So I do nothing because I have no clear direction. Laying my plans on the altar is the perfect way to find vision, clarity, and direction. Thank you, Shirlee!
I’d never heard of “pantsers” so I looked it up. Wikipedia – in a nutshell said this type of writer writes by the seat of their pants. LOL! According to your article this is a procrastinator. I believe I fall somewhere in-between. Most of my writing is sharing what is true and falls in line with journalling. “Flying by the seat of my pants” doesn’t quite convey my writings. BUT when the Lord gives me a character-building lesson in my life, I usually write about it right away, but I never post it (my glorified journal website) right away. I let it stew a while, and I revisit it a few times to be sure that I grasped what the Lord was teaching and that I presented it correctly.
It’s not that pantsers are procrastinators — but they are more at risk for procrastination than plotters. And plotters are more at risk for disappointment. It helps to know yourself, risks and all. It sounds like you do, Dee, kudos! Like you, I’m not a full-fledged pantser and I do keep a journal. Some ideas stay in the journal, others wind their way to something more public.
Hi, friend! I just wanted to come alongside and encourage you, too. My calling is to share my own stories in a way that glorifies God and points people to His kingdom. A few years ago, my now ex-husband left me and our young children for another man. I was devastated and a couple of years later, when God kept impressing upon me that I needed to write about it as part of His calling on my life, I thought, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” I had no interest in sharing that – or any of the other difficult parts of my story – with other people. This past year, though, I’ve really started leaning into my calling and being obedient – even when it’s scary (which is almost always). The more I’ve “stepped out on faith” like you mentioned, the more He has shown His might and grace and love. This has truly strengthened my faith in ways I didn’t know it would and, though I often don’t look forward to these still-scary moments, I walk into them much more often knowing that God’s grace and mercy will meet me in the middle of them and bring me out on the other side so much better than I was when I walked in. Happy New Year to you! 🙂
Thank you, Chellie, for the encouragement. Sounds like God’s nudging you out of “absolutely not” and into “the right time, right place, right people.” God’s grace is sufficient!
I have spent so many of my years being a pantser and then, trying to “remedy” that, a plotter. What I’ve discovered is that I do my very best when I’m somewhere in the middle. A “plantser,” if you will. 🙂
For 2025, my word of the year is GROWTH. I have outlined ideas I have for growing in my faith, in my professional writing career, and in my personal life. Some of these to-dos will be planned out specifically, and some will be more of a general idea that I experiment with to figure it out along the way. What I learned in 2024 was to truly live by Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV) If this past year – especially the second half of it – hasn’t been me as living proof of this verse, then I don’t know what is!
After a long, traumatic, heartbreaking, and often soul-crushing season for the past eight years, I feel like I’ve just stepped over the threshold into the new season God is bringing me into and I know He’s about to just POUR OUT in my life! He already has been just in this past week!
“Plantser” — great word!
I’m somewhere between a plotter and a pantser. My goal for 2025 is to follow God’s direction and be like Hezekiah.
That’s a great goal, Betty.
Shirlee, I am definitely the pantser but I let fear take over which is what was holding me back for so long. I finally stepped out on faith and God’s mercy & grace helped me to push past the fear. I really like the portion of your post that says “Take your plans for 2025 — be it a detailed outline or a blank page — to the altar of your soul. Roll it out before the Lord. Pray: Here are my plans, O God. What would You have me do?” That, I have not done but will do before the new year sets in. Thanks for speaking into me with this post. Happy New Year!
Hi, friend! I just wanted to come alongside and encourage you, too. My calling is to share my own stories in a way that glorifies God and points people to His kingdom. A few years ago, my now ex-husband left me and our young children for another man. I was devastated and a couple of years later, when God kept impressing upon me that I needed to write about it as part of His calling on my life, I thought, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” I had no interest in sharing that – or any of the other difficult parts of my story – with other people. This past year, though, I’ve really started leaning into my calling and being obedient – even when it’s scary (which is almost always). The more I’ve “stepped out on faith” like you mentioned, the more He has shown His might and grace and love. This has truly strengthened my faith in ways I didn’t know it would and, though I often don’t look forward to these still-scary moments, I walk into them much more often knowing that God’s grace and mercy will meet me in the middle of them and bring me out on the other side so much better than I was when I walked in. Happy New Year to you! ?
“What would you have me do?” Good question to ask every day, Yolanda. I should do it more often myself.
Hi Shirlee, I love this post because it resonate with so many of us as writers. I also love the encouragement to share our writing life with God. He is interested in all aspects of our lives, and he is present with us as we write, whether planner or pantser, he is with us.
God is writing to us, with us and through us, Deana.