Ok, onto today's post :).
First off, let me identify myself- my name is Marie, and I'm a Pantser (cue- "Hi Marie" here ;)). Pantser just means I write by the seat of my pants- aka I don't plot. Now pantsers can range from the Bradbury type of just opening a window and just seeing where the characters go to an almost plotter type of pre-plotting but not really mapping it all out.
I'm soundly in the free for all, just trying to keep up with my character's end.
And while I have finished a number of books that way, there is a tiny part of my brain (which grows louder and more aggressive when I box my characters in somehow) that says the plotters might have an easier way of it.
I did try plotting once. In fact, as I type this I'm looking at a nice big cardboard tri-fold, broken up into acts and scenes with lined colored post its covering half of it.
Yup- half. I found that I ran out of steam, and even though I have the major climax points in the later half, the first half just didn't work so I never finished. That book is waiting for an overhaul as I've got it so out of wack in terms of a "blah" plot that I can't move forward without a serious re-write.
And yet--I still look at my plotter friends with more than a little tinge of envy. It just seems like such a more efficient way to write, so streamlined and clean. And cool office supplies! Ok, let's face it, one of my favorite parts of my trip into plotter-land was the lined, colored post-it notes.
I'm sure, somewhere, there is a plotter who wishes they could be more pantser like. And while I do still think it might be better of that otherside, I think this is who I am, and how I write.
So chime in- plotter? Pantser? Plantser? Where are you on the scale and do you envy the other side?
I love to see someone else to whom one of the main draws of plotting is the cool office supplies...
ReplyDeleteI used to be an entire "follow the characters" kind of writer but, even though I would sometimes have a scene in the future that I knew was going to happen, I found myself often not getting there. Of course, I also can't really outline (like, anything... I would write the entire freaking paper and THEN outline it for homework assignments when I was younger). What I've found myself doing now seems to be a between the two -- I write where the characters take me, and then, as I start thinking about where they are going I start to lay that out with short notes. Some of them look like outlines, others just a page of random notes. Either way, it's also ALL negotiable. At the moment in one of the things I'm working on (my story-blog) I am wondering if huge segments of the story I had plotted out aren't going to happen, and the characters are bringing me all sorts of juicy other pieces to pay attention to too.
LOL!!! I so used to do that with outlining after the fact! Come to think of it, I may have still done it in college ;).
DeleteI'm definitely a pantser, and every attempt I've made at outlining or plotting is always abandoned in favor of just writing whatever scene pops into my head. It's easy to be passionate about writing, not as easy to be passionate about outlining. I have a new book idea so I do kind of want to try it, but judging by my history, I have my doubts that I'll go through with it.
ReplyDeleteI hear you, it seems so nice in theory! Maybe some of us just aren't wired for it. But if you try it and it works- tell me what you did!
DeleteI also love the post-its. Maybe your plotting just looks messier than other's. I let the story unfold, but I find myself using Thinkology to envision how it will play out before I start typing. Then, as I'm typing new ideas form. It's fun.
ReplyDeletePlay off the Page
I've never heard of Thinkology, but it sounds very interesting! I may have to go hunt it down and check it out :) (maybe we need a post-it support club ;))
Deletewhy hello, fellow non-plotter, so happy to meet you! :D I'm right there too, just following my characters along, holler whenever you want to chat about our rascal characters getting their own way ;-) Srsly, though, I think we all need to do what we enjoy best. And like Steven King said, if you don't know the ending, neither will be your readers. Meaning: your ending won't be predictable, which is always a good thing.
ReplyDeleteOk, posting King's statement makes me feel so much better about my pantsing ways! :) And it does make sense, if I have no idea where things are going--neither will a reader ;). Thank you!
DeleteI think I'm a plotter.
ReplyDeleteBut a semi-plotter, because I only really plan till halfway into the story, put the ending into some sort of perspective, and then allow the second half to unfold...
... and I like E.E. Giorgio's point - if you don't know the ending then it won't be predictable... so maybe I need to try that, throw out the ending and see what gives...
Happy IWSG Day!
Interesting! You're a halfster! It sounds like that's working for you, so keep at it!
DeleteI start out a book as a pantzer and end up plotting. Otherwise I wander around or write myself into a corner. But everyone has to find what works best for her/him. No way is right or wrong.
ReplyDeleteAnother halfster! Good point on the wandering, I'm afraid that is my major problem with my pantsing ways- I go down a lot og wrong alleys. And very true about us each having our own way- if it gets the words down, if works!
DeleteI'm definitely a pantser. I have general ideas of where the story needs to go but I make up how my characters get there as they go along. I found plotting to be too limiting. And my characters would always ignore the plot I'd outlined and get from point A to point B in an entirely different way.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love your new header. Was the artist easy to work with? How did you find her?
Ya know, Lori, I think your characters are probably talking to mine! That's one reason I'll probably never plot, my characters don't like it ;).
DeleteThank you! I love it too- it, and the matching website, were done by Rae Monet Designs- and Rae is awesome to work with! She is very professional and her entire team are very good :). I "won" the website from the Brenda Novak Auction, but was already very aware I liked the company :)
I'm half plotter, half pantser - I always have good intentions about plotting, but then I get bored halfway and just start writing the story. However, because I haven't finished the plotting carefully I struggle to finish it. I definitely need to start plotting more!
ReplyDeleteAh, the problems of going half and half. It could just be that you haven't found the write balance of the two for you? I know I always like to dive in which can mess up any attempt at plotting that I did.
DeleteI'm smack dab in the middle. Thought I was a strict plotter at first, but I soon discovered that I change so much when I first write scenes (fixing logic holes, thinking up new ways of having a scene play out, etc.) that the outline gets all dinged up and I have to go back and replot. So I bounce back and forth between plotting and pantsing.
ReplyDeleteHmmm- sounds like the pantsing side is trying to come out! Maybe once your brain has things hammered out the pantsing side just takes over!
DeleteI'm a pantser, but I've since tried to set targets based on word counts. I think to myself, okay, I'm aiming for a 25K novella, so the catalyst should happen around 2700... what that is may change in the course of my writing, same with the midpoint and all-is-lost moment. I suppose that's structuring, not really plotting, eh?
ReplyDeleteYeah, really more structuring, but I think it's a great idea for us pantsers to give some structure to a chaotic writing style! I'm going to try doing that too!
DeleteThis is a great post. I started off as a ‘pantster’ too. My friend exposed me to the technique called ‘7 point story plot’ and it has helped me a lot. It requires you to make a skeletal outline of the End, and then the Hook. After that, you simply fill in vague plot points of what happens within. What I do is I create the 7 point story plot, but I make it as vague as I can while still having an idea of my direction. When I actually do my writing, I allow my inner pantster to run free and create free thinking and exciting action scenes and dialogue that support the plot points. That helped me a lot. Anyway, I’m glad there are some pantster writers who have success with that form of writing.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of the 7 point story plot before, but sounds like it gives a lot of freedom- might also be something for me to look into!
DeleteYeah, I'm a little of both. Plotting to the point of knowing major events and then letting my characters take the lead. For me, a little of both opens a lot of doors. So I guess I'm ... a plonters?
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! I like plonters! Sounds like you found the perfect mix for you and a very cool term for it as well!
DeleteI'm a punster mostly, but recently I was having so much trouble with a story that wasn't going anywhere that I decided to fast draft the rest of it. I had no idea how to do that, so I looked it up and following the way others fast draft I finished the story in a couple of weeks. It's just the basics though, I guess sort of like an outline, with sketchy scenes. Now, I hope it will be easy to fill out the scenes. Time will tell. My other WIP, I'm just following the characters to see what they'll do.
ReplyDeleteSometimes we have to try different techniques for different books- I've found that I'm always doing slight tweaks to my style based on the type of book. Sometimes fast drafting lets you have both worlds- hope it works out for you!
DeleteAre there only two kinds of writers? I know where I'm going. I know the major plot points I have to hit. Yet when I get to the climax of a book I always seem to find I need more of something to make the story work. More middle, more depth, more magic, better descriptions, scenes which show character development. My stories aren't complete without this second step. Often these additions change the story. I think I'm a revisionist.
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon :) I think of it more as a scale, with some folks being in the middle and then the hard cores on either end. LOL- I think we're all revisionists, except for those unique souls who are able to do a clean first draft!
DeleteRight now, I'm pantsing it for my epic fantasy novel because there are gazillions of characters and a cool world system so it's like set them free and let them have at it! I literally had no idea what the conflict was going to be, the antagonist - nothing - though one showed up pretty fast as I wrote the first scene in my head - dragon meets statue who threatens to kill people unless dragon passes a test within certain timeline. I've tried plotting and I think it's a lot easier but kind of dull (to read not to write!) because it gets too forced and like okay I'm just writing this because it's I.a. of my outline. So I may be reverting to pantser. This is harder for me because I lack control and I have to go back and fix all the possible continuity errors from when I *thought* I knew what was happening. This means more work, but I'm starting to think it is worth it in the end to let the world develop and then systematically describe the world I just saw unfold rather than trying to design from the top-down first.
ReplyDeleteTrue confessions, I'm coming back into writing after several hiatuses and listening to a lot of well-meaning advice. I'm only just circling around to something like my original process which is to start out with a sketchy story that I call my "glorified plot outline" and then filling in character/scene descriptions as I go, listing all the characters/magical elements/locations and drawing maps to see if - wow - that country can't be both east AND west of that other place. Which is easily fixable. I've been trying out other methods and don't think they really work for me. It is harder on the back-end, but I think it starts out better that way.
I'm definitely going to say pantser for the win.
Wow- it sounds like you're coming back from you hiatus with a vengeance! Excellent :). I'm with you on the having to clean up after, it just seems to be the price we pay for pantsing :)
DeleteI'm a total, unrepentant, 100%-embracing-of-it pantser. And I wouldn't have it any other way! I know how the story opens, I have a general idea of the midpoint, and a general idea of the end. That's it.
ReplyDeleteI can't even write a synopsis without feeling like I've wrapped my muse in chains and duct tape. The idea of doing any actual plotting? *shivers* The closest I get to plotting is knowing my characters inside out, GMC, the lie they believe, the one thing they can't do, and the one thing they won't do.
Do I want to change? Absolutely not! I don't envy plotters or want to be like them. I am ME, and I write my way. I'm also lucky enough to have found a crit/brainstorming partner who thinks and writes exactly the way I do. A mutual writing friend calls us Siamese twins joined at the brain cells.
I agree. I attempted the plotting thing and was entirely stymied. But when I pants, I write. Simple as that. Sometimes it's hard to come to terms with, and I wonder if I should try to change it, but this is how I write and will continue to write. Good luck to you!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award! If you'd like to accept (it's completely optional, of course), the details can be found here: http://lorilmaclaughlin.com/2014/09/11/the-versatile-blogger-award. Happy blogging!
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