Pantser or plotter ?

[Jackson Banks]

As the title suggest, which one are you? For me, I envision a world where only pantsers are allowed to write. The plotters are sent away to a remote island to share their notes, charts and so forth.

I like to sit down with an idea and let the characters tell me their story. What about you?

 

[Eva Ulian]

I'm the same. Only without an outline or some plotting one ends up being swirled into a big black hole of nothingness every now and again.

 

[Rich.]

He he, the old conundrum. I must admit, I'm not a fan of binary choices, and I'm not sure if many writers are truly one or the other. I tend to sketch out a structure and then discovery-write my way between the beats. Everything remains in flux until it's finished.

I have a feeling that committing yourself to only one mode is limiting, or can be.

So which am I?

Neither and both.

 

[Jackson Banks]

He he, the old conundrum. I must admit, I'm not a fan of binary choices, and I'm not sure if many writers are truly one or the other. I tend to sketch out a structure and then discovery-write my way between the beats. Everything remains in flux until it's finished.

I have a feeling that committing yourself to only one mode is limiting, or can be.

So which am I?

Neither and both.

That's just playing it safe. Come to the darkside, we have a lot more fun

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I pantsed a novel. Must not pants one again, must not pants one again. Get thee hence Satan, thy forces are the seduction of pantsing. It meant a lot more work in the end, I'm sure of it. The problem was I didn't know the story till I wrote it. I could feel it and I knew what the end looked like and why. But the ghastliness of the middle. That's got to be helped, please God, by plotting.

 

[Robert M Derry]

I pantsed the first novel and spent a year on it before realising it had no plot and was just a series of random steps forward with no clear structure or style.

I've plotted the one I'm working on now and I'm feeling much better for it. I'm allowing myself to wander off and toss in the odd dream sequence here and there, but the plot ensures it has an overall shape and direction.

 

[E G Logan]

I pantsed a novel. Must not pants one again, must not pants one again. Get thee hence Satan, thy forces are the seduction of pantsing. It meant a lot more work in the end, I'm sure of it. The problem was I didn't know the story till I wrote it. I could feel it and I knew what the end looked like and why. But the ghastliness of the middle. That's got to be helped, please God, by plotting.

I do agree. I do SO agree.
I am reading Writing A Novel by Richard Skinner, a (main) tutor on the Faber course. He says: 'Ask yourself what kind of book you would write if you knew for sure that it would NOT be published.' And, 'The first person you should be writing for is yourself.'
I did that (i.e. from the heart, as he suggests, just as it flowed) and, hey! I have a ms. that is proving hard to get published. The art of the self-fulfilling prophecy perhaps.

 

[Nikky Lee]

As I have recently discovered I'm a ploster (or a planster, however you want to look at it). I like to have a loose outline/idea of the direction I'm going, but it's just a guideline. I am quite prone to veering off course as something better or more exciting occurs to me.

 

[CageSage]

Planning at the start helps get rid of the cliches and ordinary bits. Planning lets me do interviews with the character so I can find out the deepest motivations, nightmares and secrets. Planning each section (I usually have four, but novellas have three, and shorts have one or two), finding variances on how this may lead along that track, or show up this theme/motif ...

Planning, and being flexible once it's complete, means I get stuff finished. That's what matters to me. Finish the ms, then look at the bits and how they can be strengthened to make the most of how this journey pans out.

So, a planner who's happy to 'see what's down this road' - just in case.

 

[CageSage]

Oh, what I meant to say:

Plan the journey, but enjoy the ride (it's not like we have to take a package tour, is it?).
There will be side-tracks, but sometimes, it's like the old adage, some things were never meant to see the light, and when the journey gets back on track, no one will ever know about that little transgression, will they?
What happens in Vegas adage may also apply to times we wander off into the bushes with a story.

 

[Jackson Banks]

Hearing these excuses pains my soul.

 

[Rich.]

Jackson, genuine question – how, as a pure pantser, do you you manage structure in your writing?

 

[Jackson Banks]

Jackson, genuine question – how, as a pure pantser, do you you manage structure in your writing?

Basically, once I have the main premise, different critical scenes flash in my mind. Sort of like I get what happens in chapter 8,19 and so on. From there, I just let the characters take me to those spots. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I have a really good understanding and intuition of story arc and beats.

 

[Rich.]

Ah, so you are a plotter – you just don't write it down.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I came across an interesting observation in an interview with crime novelist Sara Paretsky:

"I hate the expression Pantser. This is how I categorise it: Outliners are chess players. They can think eight, ten, twelve moves ahead. I'm not. People who don't outline are tennis players. They respond to where the ball is in motion."

I'm similar in how I write. When I started out, I thought myself to be more of a pantser than a plotter, but in writing a series of crime novels featuring the same characters, I've learned the importance of having story arcs that carry over from one book to the next, which requires plotting. However, I retain my pantser nature by not having my characters do anything untrue to themselves, in favour of hammering a plot into place.

When planning a writing project, I decide what the theme will be, but I don't stick to an exact route to get my message across. I really do think of myself as a gibbon swinging through the trees, changing direction, but getting where I want to go. The thing is with creating a story, is that it has to make sense, have some continuity...the opposite of how we live life!

 

[Carol Rose]

I used to be a total pantser until I discovered how much more cohesive my stories were with a bit of outlining first. Should have been a no-brainer, but it wasn't.

 

[E G Logan]

As I have recently discovered I'm a ploster (or a planster, however you want to look at it). I like to have a loose outline/idea of the direction I'm going, but it's just a guideline. I am quite prone to veering off course as something better or more exciting occurs to me.

I think you have to be able to veer -- sometimes those work out to be the best, most natural bits.

 

[KateESal]

My life as a pantser is littered with the graves of unfinished novels and stories.

Once I started plotting (or, at least, outlining) I found I could write a more coherent narrative because I knew where it was heading. And what's more, I could actually get to the end.

But I definitely permit characters to take me on diversions, or follow a fork in the road which I haven't seen from the aerial view of the plotter, but can clearly discern when wending my way through the story.

Sometimes, my characters (or my own inspirations) will change the shape of the plot and that's just as it should be.

Nowadays I see myself as a flexi-plotter.

 

[Rich.]

#Cut to commercial...

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Results may vary. No-money back guarantee. Flexi-plotter™ takes no responsibility for lack of sales but successful use cedes all rights in perpetuity to Best Seller Industries. Call our subsidiary, Get-a-Good-Lawyer, for details.​

#Programme resumes...

 

[Emily]

Available in packs of five or ten

I wonder will they do a special bulk order of about five hundred for me?

 

[Jackson Banks]

Movie credits fade as white letting disaplys the word 'Tomorrow.' Helicopter armed with heavy machine guns flies over a city street. Burnt our cars, buildings, the city is in chaos. A mob of people are fighting. Guns, sticks, stones, the masses are killing each other.
Pilot. "-Confirmation on visual, plotters everywhere sir."
HQ- Are you sure? We can't afford any mistakes. There could be innocent pantsers down there."
Camera pans down to crowd. People are yelling insults such as 'We should have listened to the pantsters" and "So much for your outline saving humanity."
Pilot-"It's only plotters sir, not a panster in sight."
Visual of a man standing up on a burnt out car, a notebook in his hand- Sticky notes adorn his body. His voice loud, causing everyone to pause. "We can plot our way out of this! It has to work eventually! Right?" The mob attacks.
The sound of a long sigh comes through the pilots headpiece , HQ speaks. "Show them no mercy. They have done enough damage."

 

[KateESal]

Flexi-plotter™ is a revolutionary new product from Best Seller Industries. Simply empty the contents of one tub of Flexi-plotter™ into the palm of your hand and spread liberally on your manuscript page or monitor. Flexi-plotter™ works with paper and screens! You'll never need to think about plot ever again! Let Flexi-plotter™ do all the work. Flexi-plotter™, the pantsers' dream! Available in packs of five or ten.Results may vary. No-money back guarantee. Flexi-plotter™ takes no responsibility for lack of sales but successful use cedes all rights in perpetuity to Best Seller Industries. Call our subsidiary, Get-a-Good-Lawyer, for details.

Pwned!!!

Show them no mercy. They have done enough damage."

I think you're being a tad harsh.

 

[Jackson Banks]

Pwned!!!


I think you're being a tad harsh.

Never!

 

[CageSage]

It all seems a bit polarising to have only 2 camps. Plotter doesn't really fit in most cases, because it implies a lack of flexibility, whereas planner has the potential to sound less rigid. Pantser sounds a bit rude and juvenile. I don't like to be labelled with either of these constraints.
I plan, rather than plot. Sometimes those plans are more like a mud-map, a few simple lines in the dirt that give me some direction or purpose, and sometimes, it's a whole itinerary. Sometimes, the map is worth printing in colour. A plan makes it easier to complete the journey, and therein lies the benefit.

Would you travel to another country without some form of planning?
Some would, and I applaud them, but is it courage or stupidity? That will depend on the country visited, won't it? therefore, knowing the destination is important, and if some prep is done ... oh, is that a potential plan?

Whether the parts of the process are in-head, on-paper, white-board, story-board, sticky-notes, coasters (pub-type), toilet-paper (etc.), these are all forms of pre-planning or nesting an idea from concept to premise to story.

Neither plotting nor pantsing is the whole story, and if Stephen King can do it ... (yes, he does. He puts ideas in his head, jots a few notes, and thinks on it, sometimes for years (if you don't believe me, it's mentioned on a TED talk with other authors - the dome idea is one example)).

Therefore, in the end, we all plan to some level, whether we accept it or not, whether we label it or not.

 

[KateESal]

@CageSage is indeed sage.

 

[Rich.]

Yes, nailed it.

And I would add that it's so important not to be straightjacket by any particular aspect of process. Writing well is more complex than that.