Thursday Author Blog Hop Question 07 April 2011:Are you a plotter or a panster? Do you plot your stories ahead of writing? Or do you write and see what happens? (Writing “by the seat of your pants”.) Why do you work that way? What are the benefits ...and drawbacks?
I am a panster who plots out the general path. I have no clue where I'm going, BUT I know the stops I want to make on the way. :D
That's the best way to describe my style of writing. I cannot outline the entire book and then write it. Half the time, my characters decide to go a different route and then outline is obsolete. Rather than waste the energy, I just don't do an outline.
I usually write out scenes of character interaction or climactic moments as they come to me. I put them in order as I write them, though sometimes I'll move a scene to an earlier or later position depending on the pacing of the story. Later, as I'm finishing the book, I string all of the scenes together into a cohesive whole story.
The benefit to writing this way is that I get the scenes written. I'm not forgetting a scene or making myself wait to write a scene just so I can go in order. I'm also the type who will eat dessert with dinner just so I won't have to wait for dessert. :P
The only drawback to this is not knowing where the story will go until I write it. This is equal parts fun and frustrating. I like the voyage of discovery, as it were. However, that voyage sometimes takes a lot longer than it should.
Is that enough of a drawback to make me change? Nope. Not at all. I tried it the other way. I prefer to pants it. :D
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4 comments:
Yeay, hello fellow panster and blog hopper :) Isn't it just so much more fun NOT knowing where the story is going, letting it take on it's own life? Of course, we have to pull in the reigns from time to time, but overall, it makes the journey a whole lot more interesting!
'I usually write out scenes of character interaction or climactic moments as they come to me.' I'll do this with my longer stories, otherwise, by the time I finally reach that scene, I'll have forgotten the best parts!
Gosh! There are far more pansters than I ever imagined there would be LOL
I really will have to look into whether it matters if we are left or right brained :)
YOu could say that I'm a plotter, but I know there will be unplanned stops I want to make along the way...
Hugs,
Angelika
X
I think I should start writing down the scenes like you do. At the moment I tend to keep them all in my head until their time comes. And I'm sure that I forget the finer points by that time.
I'm definitely a plotter and I prefer to have an outline of the story before I begin to write it.
I need to know where I'm going. But how I'm getting there is entirely a matter of a chance. And I love the feeling of discovery and "Wow! Where did that come from?" moments.
Maybe I'm part-plotter, part-panster?
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