Let’s have a show of hands…are you a plotter? Or a pantster?
If those terms are new to you, essentially it divides the writing world into two types (and there are many who live somewhere in between)– those who plot a novel ahead of writing it, and those who fly by the seat of their pants and plot as they go. I’ve seen many (many) blog posts, articles, discussions and debates about which is better, why one way works and the other doesn’t, but ultimately, no one can make that choice but you.
However, you might not KNOW if you are a plotter or a pantser. You might think you do, but are you sure? What about the person who swears they are a plotter, but only plots out two chapters ahead? Or the pantser who creates drinking games to make choices in her plots as she go, but secretly, she’s got all of the turning points down pat in the back of her mind? Or how about the person who plots meticulously ahead of time. She knows the plot down to scene, motivation and forward movement…only to get halfway through the novel and change it all?
Who is the pantser and who is the plotter? Does it matter how you define your writing style?
Plotting Your Novel Isn’t Hard…No, Really. Google Says.
In doing a little research for this post, I googled “how to plot a novel.” And I have to say, the search gave me a good laugh. I found topics with titles like: “How to Plot your novel: it’s not that hard.” and another topic that said “plotting was the easiest part in creating your novel.”
Huh? Have they ever plotted a book? Do YOU think it’s easy? I also saw another article that said “Plotting becomes easier the more you write.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t think any of it comes easier. I do believe that I get better as I write more. I learn more about craft and about my style, and how to marry the two. But I did realize that at some point, I had to come to terms with how I write and what works for me. Hence the plotter versus pantser debate.
So I think there should be questions to ask oneself to know for sure, which type of writer you are. Here are a few and I hope you’ll add to the list…
You are a plotter if:
- Notebooks turn you on. (Okay not really…but you probably have a really large supply of empty ones at home “just in case” Target runs out.)
- You know your characters better than you know your family. You have flow charts, character bios and a file the FBI would envy to show for it.
- The idea of sitting down to a blank page with no idea what the next big moment in your WIP is scares you more than all the horror movie villains put together.
- You love to work out plot in your head, even when you’re no where near the keyboard.
You are a panster if…
- You know you have a hero, a heroine and a few other characters conveniently named “Jane” for the moment until you figure it out…but you don’t care, you’re sitting down and strapping on the seatbelt for the ride.
- The idea of making a character chart ahead of time makes you break out in hives.
- You once tried to jot down a plot ahead of time… but that plot still hasn’t made it into a single book.
Okay, and if you have noticed that my Plotter list is bigger than my Pantser list (this is started to sound iffy…), it’s because yes, I am a plotter. I have about sixteen notebooks located in my house. I have flow charts, character bios and even diary entries of my characters from when they were seven. A blank page with no idea of what to do is as bad to me as a bad hair day on prom night, and I can honestly say, I am always, always plotting something in my head. I am also known for getting lost just turning around, so I’m rarely without a map in my hand when I’m somewhere new.
But… I don’t always stick to the plots I write. I did learn along the way that while this works best for me, I also have to be flexible. For instance, the WIP I’m working on now —I had the plot all worked out to the end… and I got halfway through and realized that some fundamental shifts needed to happen. My plot is still intact —the “what happens to whom” hasn’t changed. But the “where they go” and “who causes it all” did. And this happened because I got to know my characters better.
Yes, even better than the flow charts and diary entry with hearts on top of i’s.
So, does it matter?
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you plot your way to a happy ending or pants your way through the blank pages… we all get to the same place in the end. But it’s sort of like driving a rental car in a strange city… it helps if you know what kind of car you’re driving. (And for me, have one hell of a GPS system.)
I once thought I was a plotter until Kelley Armstrong explained to me that pantsers actually do have outlines.
I know roughly where I’m going. I have a general idea about my characters. I have the book plotted out vaguely (things like ‘she gets kidnapped here’). But the details, the details are pure magic.
I get to the end of stories and suddenly I KNOW why the heroine has that strange personality quirk. It all comes together (or not – and then I struggle to pull it together).
So yes, this accountant is a pantser.
I am definitely a panster. When I saw the poster board thing I felt like I was in grade school and my brain shut down.
I’m with Kim. I have basically in my head where I am going, but a lot of it just comes as I write.
@Kimber — I love that! I think we should take a poll to see if a plotter or pantser equates that into other areas of their lives. Their job, etc. The accountant being a pantser is fun. I love it. 🙂
I think there are a lot of stops along the way to being a Plotter or Pantser. Like you said, there are pantsers who have a vague outline ahead of time. There are others who know the name of the hero and the heroine and a basic idea of what the overall story arc is. But other than that, they know nothing. (And yes, this idea sends the plotter in me ducking under the desk in fear. LOL)
Hi Jeannie, great question! Okay, at the risk of sounding like a lunatic, I’m both a panster AND a plotter.
I generally have the major points of a story plotted out and know where I’m going with them, but then invariably, some other idea pops up and then I’m writing by the seat of my pants, usually in several different directions. I’m not a writer who can sit down and write a story from start to finish, I have to go where the mood leads and then go back through to make sure it’s all cohesive.
Marion/Carrie
@Mary — So how much do you have in your head of where you’re going? Like the big major plot points? More than that?
I envy the ability to write like that… but I think I would cry if someone tried to take my notebooks away. LOL
Jeannie, LOVE the new look of the blog! I believe I’m about 75% plotter and 25% pantser. Does that make sense? I have a very rough outline of what’s going to happen, and then fill in as I go from scene to scene. Sometimes a scene will come out of nowhere and surprise me because I hadn’t planned it but it works! I love it when that happens.
Hmmm…then I just went up and read Kimber’s response. Sounds exactly like me. Yet I consider myself a plotter. LOL Going off your lists also shows me leaning more toward plotter…but I’m not a diehard like you. 🙂
The plotting gets easier the more you write. Well, in a way, this does make sense. With our first book, we may have made all kinds of mistakes that needed fixing later on–all kinds of plot holes–some unfixable. But, as we study and write more, the majority of us are able to figure out how to avoid those sink holes early on, thus making the plot flow better, and it feels easier. At least, that’s how it’s worked for me. 🙂
Looking forward to more responses. Have a good day everone!
I’m a pantser. In my other life I was a computer application programmer and analyst so you’d think I would be a plotter but not… For one thing I get bored easily if I don’t see results so I’ll start out plotting and as soon as I feel I have a hold on it I just start writing. I keep a worksheet updated as I go and have had to stop and plot but mostly I just go for it.
Fun post.. I’m looking forward to reading more comments.
Oh and I love the new design. You really do a great job with our Blog community.
@Marion — Someone firmly in the middle of the debate! LOL Hmm… is there a term for the ones who sit on that line in the middle of the road and let both lines of traffic whiz past them in opposite directions? 🙂
If not, we should make one up! Any suggestions?
I imagine even in the diehards like me, there’s an element of the opposite. I plot out ahead, but I do change it when necessary. I’m not wedded to the plot because often I find as I get further into the story, I get to know my characters even better and sometimes, things have to change in order to accommodate them.
And for some bizarre reason, the one character who always grows and shifts in my stories is the villain. I never seem to get a full grasp on him or her until halfway through…and then of course, they want a bigger stake in the game. Fusspots, all of ’em. 🙂
@Stacey – I think you’re right, things do get easier as you write more because you learn more about the pitfalls to avoid, just as you said.
I was just thinking that while I know more about what to avoid and what works, it’s not like it’s a breeze to pull that plot together now versus when I started writing. And maybe years down the road, I’ll think it’s all easier in general than it was in the beginning. LOL
And by the way, I did start as a pantser. And I have YET to finish that book. LOL (Started almost twenty years ago.) Once I started plotting out my ideas, it came easier.
I also think part of that is because the current WIP is part of a series. So for me, this HAS to be plotted out ahead of time and kept notes on, so that I can keep track of the overall arc of the series as well as the individual stories. Hmm, maybe that is another post for another day, though… Book series are a different beast. LOL
@Lavada — I’ve heard that from a number of pantsers…that the plotting method would bore them to tears. Hmm..maybe that should be added to the Pantsers list, what do you think?
– If the idea of sitting down to write with a full outline in front of you sends you reaching for the coffee just to keep you awake, you might be a pantser.
(This is starting to sound like a Jeff Foxworthy skit…)
I’m a pantser. I sat down and plotted out a novel once and my muse packed up and went on vacation. She thought the novel was finished. I like to be surprised as I write it just like I love to be suprised as I read a novel. I never go to the back to see how a book ends before I read the whole thing. So, I can’t do that as I write either.
If Kimber is right, I’m still officially a pantser. But I always claim to ride the fence because I plot quite a bit of the story although I wing the rest. 😉 ~Skhye
@C.J. – I LOVE what you said. Your muse thought the book was finished and went on vacation. LOL
I never read ahead of a book I’m reading either, I like to be surprised the first time. However, I am someone who reads a book I love over and over again. My favorite book has been purchased about four times already because I wore it out. (Yippee for Kindle! It’s permanent now. 🙂
The lack of surprise doesn’t change my enjoyment of it, though…I wonder if that’s another element of plotter vs. pantser? For those who are pantsers, do you have to be surprised to enjoy the writing of it? What about plotters?
Jeannie–what book have you worn out 4 times?
On the subject of being surprised, once in a great while I’ll be reading a book and the part I’m at is SO intense I have to peak ahead to make sure the characters are okay before I can keep reading. Doesn’t happen often, but man, when it does, I’m on the edge of my seat.
That doesn’t happen much when I’m writing, although, there are times my pulse picks up in the more intense scenes. That’s always cool. It’d be interesting to see if I ever feel like that when I’m writing something I’ve plotted/planned, or only if it’s when I go off on an unexpected pantser trip.
I’m a plotting pantser. I get an idea and my Muse, hubby, eventually the CP, and I all pick at the idea, filling in a few blanks, adding some characters, finding point A and point Z. Then I send everyone but Muse away. She and I sit down and start writing. Character traits and histories evolve, plot points turn, crises ensues, fun to be had all around. 😉
I have a writing program called Write It Now and it comes in handy for character notes, location descriptions, and time lines AS I WRITE. I’ve never once had all that stuff filled in before I started. Well…except for the names of the major characters. There are times I don’t even have a description for them until half-way through the MS.
Great discussion!
Hi,
I guess I’m a panster. I have a general feel for the characters and write down things they tell me before I start writing. When I do I write scenes as they come to me. They are totally out of order and when I get enough of them I start organizing them into a story. I’m trying to work on plotting just to save time writing scenes that will never work in the story, but so far it hasn’t worked for me.
WOW Jeannie!!
I love your blog! It’s so beautiful!
I started out a pantzer and then developed into a plotter. I like “feeling out” the scene first. Helps me to visualize and set the tone. Now when I sit down to write the scene from my notes, *shhh* sometimes I’ll revert and ad-lib. LOL I’m not the best example, but I’m working on finding my way. Dang learning curve! LOL
Smile!,
Sarah
@Stacey – The book is WHITNEY, MY LOVE by Judith McNaught. She’s definitely one of my all time favorite authors, and it was her work that inspired me to write regency in historical. I love that book, I never get tired of her characters and the ending is always satisfying to me. I know I’ve read it at least sixty times. Crazy, isn’t it? LOL
@Kathy — Wow you can write your scenes out of sequence? I envy that! You’d think as a plotter, that would be easy for me to do, but it never is. LOL I remember attending a workshop where the author said that’s how she writes the entire book sometimes, totally out of sequence and then just fills in the missing pieces. I think my jaw hit the floor. LOL
@Sarah — Thank you! 🙂 It’s a very recent update. And I think plotter still maintain an element of flexibility. It might be mapped out for the most part, but I still get surprises along the way. For me, that’s not always a good thing because it can put me into situations like where I am now — trying to figure out the best way to get out of where my characters headed off. LOL
What a beautiful blog!
I’m a pantser trying to become a plotter. I love writing by the seat of my pants, but it takes me FOREVER to get through a book. I keep running into deadends and having to go back to the beginning and figure out what’s wrong. With my WIP, I’m trying to plot more before I start writing. No, it’s not as “fun” but the first draft is never really all that fun for me anyway. Revisions are where it’s at for me.
:)Becky
@Rebecca – Thank you! 🙂
I’m not a first draft fan either — in fact, it’s the hardest part for me and I struggle through it. The editing, layers and revisions are where I really work well, I think. Something I’ve learned fairly recently for me, so hopefully that will help me to just push through the first drafts going forward so I can get to the end and then go back and add in all the wonderful elements I want to add.
A handmade trackback since I can’t figure out how to do it the official way. 🙂 I mentioned this article at my blog in a january in review post. Cheers! – Corra McFeydon