Vacation 101: Pantser or Plotter?

How does an author, who's normally a hard-core pantser, draw up an itinerary for a future Ireland / Scotland trip? Well, let me tell you it's quite difficult, especially when there is so much to see and not enough time to fit it all in. This is the dilemma I have come to face.

Let's start at the beginning...

As some of you may already know, I write full length historical novels. The first two books in my Emerald Isle Trilogy (RÆLIKSEN and MAC LIAM) are available and despite their length, their intricately woven plots, and the many twists that take place in the series, I have never--I repeat, NEVER--plotted them out on paper. Several of my friends and family, who've read the series, have asked me how in the world I've done such a thing, and honestly, I find myself asking "how do other authors plot out their books and stick to it?"

I know my personality, and because of it, I'd spend more time revising my outline than writing the story by memory. Don't get me wrong, I've tried. And the first time I ever plotted anything out was for my contemporary novella due out in April called Silent Partner. With it supposedly being only a novella, I decided to see if I could even write a novella--which means keeping it below a certain word count. I have to say, I successfully wrote out the entire outline for the story just to see how many chapters it would take to complete it, but then when it came time to writing the story, I seemed to have dismissed the outline, never consulting it as the scenes played out in my head.

Was that a waste of my time? Not really...it did help me to keep things in order. But in all honesty, I actually preferred to fly by the seat of my pants. Did I write the novella without any trouble? Yes. Did I keep it under a certain word count? No. But yet, I am so thankful I didn't because now it will be released as both an ebook and a print book. Does this mean I will never plot ever again? No. I think I'd try to plot again for most of my novellas swimming around in my head.

However, with me going to Ireland and Scotland this year, I know I MUST draw up an itinerary and stick to it, else I'll be running around the country like a chicken with my head cut off and going no where fast.

So, here I am. I'm in the process of drawing up this blasted schedule for a two week trip and I'm nearly finished. The only thing I'm worried about is cutting myself short. The most important things on the schedule are visiting the places I've talked about in the Emerald Isle Trilogy (the amazing places my heroine and the two heroes have stood): Inis Mór, Galway, Limerick, the River Shannon, pretty much the entire west coast of Ireland. But my goodness, we all know there is so much more to see than those nostalgic locations.

I plan on immersing myself in the country and I've already told my husband that he's going to be hard pressed to get me out of the country when the time comes to get back on the plane and head for home. This is a place I've long dreamed about visiting and to leave it all behind will be one of the hardest things for me to do.

With that being said, I take a deep breath and continue on my crusade to plot this darn trip out, day by day, hour by hour. So, I ask you...is that the best way to do it? Or should I just go over there and enjoy my trip like I write--by the seat of my pants?

*Visit Renee Vincent at her website, Past The Print, or at

Deep In The Heart Romance.