Heaven’s View: Method for the Extreme Pantser Part 1

So, what is the “Heaven’s View” focus?

Whether you believe yourself to be an Extreme Pantser, a Pantser, a Pantser-Plotter, a Plotter, or a Severe Plotter, the Heaven’s View is the beginning before your beginning. Imagine, if you will, that you are staring down at the world you are creating from the heavens. The view is magnificent, and so full of promise. At this point, it can be anything you want it to be and do anything you want it to do. However, as breathtaking and exciting as this perspective might be, from this extreme distance all you can really do is begin creating the borders of your tale and the outside parameters of your characters. It is from this zenith’s vantage point where we focus on building the very first key elements within our developing Story Points and Character Points.

The Heaven’s View Story Point

There are numerous theories on the “perfect” way to develop your initial story concept. I have tried many of these proposed systems, only to find that none of them are quite perfect. However, some techniques are definitely better than others, and one system comes the closest of the bunch: the “What If… But… Which Results In…” initial story concept development method.

The Three Step Method:

Step 1

In step 1 of this technique, we begin by asking ourselves the seemingly simple question, What If…, and then just let our creative juices flow. For example:

• What if… a young woman suddenly inherited a vast wealth from an unknown source?
• What if… a Confederate sharpshooter had a chance to shoot Lincoln right before the Emancipation Proclamation?
• What if… a man’s dog started speaking in English?

Not all the “What if…” questions you dream up will make the basis of a great story, but I bet if you really let your mind go, some really interesting questions will bubble to the surface.

Some writers prefer to stop right here and take their “what if…” answers and hit their keyboards. Even for the most extreme of pantsers, I urge you not to make this mistake. Without answering the remaining questions, the chance that you will either write yourself into an inescapable corner, hit a wall and quit the story, or spend a great deal of unnecessary time editing and rewriting, is nearly 100 percent.

Step 2

In step 2, we attach the question, But…, to our existing “What if…” and bring them together. There is a very simple, but vital, reason for this addition: tension. Stories, just like life, require tension as a catalyst for conflict and change. If you think about it, don’t you just dread the word “but” entering a conversation? “Yada Yada Yada…” (great, everything’s going my way) “But…” Boom, you immediately tense up because you know there is conflict to follow.

Let’s take our examples and try to create some conflict:

• What if a young woman suddenly inherited a vast wealth from an unknown source, but… she learns that the inheritance is blood money from a Nazi uncle?
• What if a Confederate sharpshooter had a chance to shoot Lincoln right before the Emancipation Proclamation, but… he has fallen in love with a slave that nursed him back to health the year prior?
• What if a man’s dog started speaking in English, but… the dog is telling him to do horrible things to people?

We have presented a protagonist in an interesting circumstance, and now we have introduced tension into the equation.

As you can see, this method forces you to come up with a very short, but workable, initial story concept. You now have a string of strong verbs, interesting adjectives, precise nouns, and memorable details that can potentially form the bedrock of an intriguing tale. The ideal combination of these will leave you, and anyone you choose to share it with, feeling one emotional response: I need to know more. What does she do with the money? Does the soldier take the shot? What sort of horrible things could man’s best friend possibly want?

I’m willing to bet that our extreme pantsers, once they have added their brilliant “But…” to their story concept, will really be champing at the bit to get to work on their story. However, I urge you to be patient just a little longer and work through the third step.

Step 3

In step 3, we add the bow that ties everything together. To achieve this, we take our existing “what if… but…” and ask “which results in…” to punctuate our story concept.

Let’s use our previous examples to see how this might work:

• What if a young woman suddenly inherited a vast wealth from an unknown source, but she learns that the inheritance is blood money from a Nazi uncle, which results in… the young woman investing the money in medical research that ends up saving many lives, including the life of the surviving daughter of the wealthy Jewish family that the uncle robbed and executed.
• What if a Confederate sharp shooter had a chance to shoot Lincoln right before the Emancipation Proclamation, but he has fallen in love with a slave that nursed him back to health the year prior, which results in… the young man not taking the shot, but instead deserting the army and his wealthy family, rescuing his love and her family, and heading west with hopes of building a new life—that is, until his past catches up to him.
• What if a man’s dog started speaking in English, but the dog is telling him to do horrible things to people, which results in… him learning in the end that there was no dog, he had already committed those horrible things, and it was all just him facing his demons alone in a mental hospital.

This three-step method has several benefits, but the most important one to me is that it can save you an enormous amount of time, energy, and suffering. If you can’t get your idea boiled down to answer the “what if… but… which results in…” statement, you will probably find, only after a great deal of time and effort, that your story concept does not have the makings of a good tale. As a further benefit, even if it answers the statement, you will find it is much easier to suss out the good ideas from the bad.

I can already see my extreme pantser friends rolling their eyes and arguing that this method is forcing them to write the ending before they even begin. To a pantser, this is extreme sacrilege. From their perspective, the characters should be allowed to write their own ending. I totally get, and respect, that opinion. I would point out that the “which results in…” does not need, and probably shouldn’t have, locked in specifics.

Let’s examine some unpolished examples from my personal collection to illustrate my point.

(What if) a straight as an arrow FBI agent is sent to infiltrate a militia group, (but) instead falls in love with the leader’s daughter, (which results in) the agent being forced to make a life-altering choice between love or duty. Could you see yourself getting hooked on that emotional rollercoaster? Is the idea even plausible, or what would have to happen to make it believable?

As you can see, although I answered the which results in, it still leaves a vast amount of room for the characters to write their story. We only know that their needs to be a life-altering choice, not what that choice is or how it is made—perfect for the pantser.

But maybe I am the type of writer that needs their story concept pinned down a bit more. What about which results in… the agent being forced to marry his love in secret, join the militia’s cause, and lead a life on the run as the new group’s leader? This example really locks in some specifics for the protagonist. In short, this method is extremely helpful regardless of which writing-style camp meets your personal needs. Heck, it might even help you decide which one fits you best.

Let’s try another example: (What if) a scientist and philanthropist found a way to clone dinosaurs, (but) even his best intentions quickly backfire, (which results in) his creations turning against him and leave death and destruction in their wake. Wait… that sounds familiar.

You see my point? Most, if not all, great stories can be drilled down and summed up by a short “what if… but… results in…” statement—yours should, as well.

Speaking of personal collections, I highly recommend that all writers carry around a notebook, or a device, that you can use to capture “what if… but… which results in…” possibilities at all times. You should start training yourself to absorb and translate interesting daily interactions that you see and hear into possible story scenarios.

For example:

(what if) the guy in front of me at the ATM is trying to take out enough money, right at bank closing time, to buy his wife’s antidepressants, (but) a bank error at the machine and the unwillingness of anyone to let him in to resolve the frozen account causes him to have no access to his money, (which results in) his wife committing suicide and he goes on a murder spree of all the bank personnel one by one.

This story scenario came to me this afternoon, while I was waiting in line at the ATM. This idea is probably not a blockbuster, but I have read more that was working with less.

Not every idea, heck few of them, will have the makings of a great story concept. That’s as it should be. But you never know where, or when, that gem will come up. This method is a fabulous way to train your brain to always be on the lookout for your next plot.

Exercise 1: Words in Action

Now it’s your turn. First, begin by building a “what if… but… which results in…” collection. If you already have some plot ideas, try to see if you can break them down into completed scenarios. Starting today, keep something with you at all times and use your surrounding situations to create some workable story concepts.

Once you are satisfied with your available selection of scenarios, it is time to narrow the field down to a final contender. You don’t want to pick the one that interests you the most, or the one that has the strongest plot. You want to pick the one with the best balance between “I would be interested in writing/reading about this,” and “this one has the best premise.” Why? Because I said so. Just kidding. If you really think about it, you might pick the strongest plot, but not have enough interest in the topic to keep your motivation throughout the arduous journey ahead. You might pick the one that excites you the most, only to find out halfway through that the idea, while cool, doesn’t have enough meat to complete the work. You want to be brutally honest with yourself from the outset as you determine which idea can keep your interest focused, while still having a chance of reaching the finish line.

1.?????What If…

2.?????But…

3.?????Which results in…

Now is the time for you to go to work and complete the exercise.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to show your appreciation or contribute to my continued work, please consider buying me a coffee here. As always, you can find my work and podcasts at jnathaniellee.com.

Read Heaven’s View: Method for the Extreme Pantser Part 2

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