Pantsers vs. Plotters

Now that I've finished a fabulous series on plotting a great story, it's time to comment on the idea of outlining. I've mentioned this before, but there are two types of writers in the world: those who plot out the entire story before they begin writing (plotters) and those who do little-to-no planning before they begin writing (pantsers, as in by-the-seat-of-the-pants). I'm firmly entrenched in the plotters category. In fact, two weeks ago a great scene popped into my head that took place near the half-way point of my story, but I was only one-quarter of the way through the writing process. I figured I'd better write that scene out before I forgot all the good stuff I came up with. So I wrote it. Then I had to back up to the point where I'd left off and fill in all the stuff that took place between. Talk about anxiety! My poor linear brain is just NOT equipped to deal with non-linear writing. I wrote fast and furious to fill up the space and get that pre-written scene into chronological order with the rest of the story.

I have a pantser friend who has started to come around to my way of thinking (Dragonfallacy, that's you!). She now admits that she plots bits of her story before she writes. Sometimes she starts writing, then plots for a bit, then writes for a bit, then when she gets stuck she goes back to plotting. She admitted to me just today that *gasp* she frequently starts out with a scene at some random place within the first half of the story. She's *accustomed* to writing scenes out of order. I can't even begin to express how wrong that feels to me. It's like an architect trying to build a building without blueprints. Its like putting your socks on over your shoes. Its like putting mayonnaise on your peanut butter sandwich. It's Just Not Done.

(This "don't do it" photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

Yet I know people do it all the time, and they manage to get books written. Obviously, there's no right or wrong way. But there is a way that feels natural to me. I'll stick with it and not feel guilty that I can't stray outside the boundaries of my comfort zone to try someone else's way of doing things. I applaud my pantser friend for trying things my way. She found a nice common ground between the two that works for her. I personally think she may end up following rabbit trails that don't go where they should, so when it comes time to edit she finds herself deleting some unusable prose, but I haven't had any confirmation on my theory yet. And if she does, so what? The more writing you do, the better you get at it. Someone somewhere said it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert at it. If you put in your 10,000 hours and end up deleting some of those words, you've still put in the time. My friend and I have both put in a lot more than 10,000 hours, so I think we're doing dandy.

What about you, loyal readers? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you find yourself somewhere between the two? Can you write in a non-linear fashion without stressing out about it? Share your wisdom with the group.

-Sonja

Pantsers vs. Plotters

Now that I've finished a fabulous series on plotting a great story, it's time to comment on the idea of outlining. I've mentioned this before, but there are two types of writers in the world: those who plot out the entire story before they begin writing (plotters) and those who do little-to-no planning before they begin writing (pantsers, as in by-the-seat-of-the-pants). I'm firmly entrenched in the plotters category. In fact, two weeks ago a great scene popped into my head that took place near the half-way point of my story, but I was only one-quarter of the way through the writing process. I figured I'd better write that scene out before I forgot all the good stuff I came up with. So I wrote it. Then I had to back up to the point where I'd left off and fill in all the stuff that took place between. Talk about anxiety! My poor linear brain is just NOT equipped to deal with non-linear writing. I wrote fast and furious to fill up the space and get that pre-written scene into chronological order with the rest of the story.

I have a pantser friend who has started to come around to my way of thinking (Dragonfallacy, that's you!). She now admits that she plots bits of her story before she writes. Sometimes she starts writing, then plots for a bit, then writes for a bit, then when she gets stuck she goes back to plotting. She admitted to me just today that *gasp* she frequently starts out with a scene at some random place within the first half of the story. She's *accustomed* to writing scenes out of order. I can't even begin to express how wrong that feels to me. It's like an architect trying to build a building without blueprints. Its like putting your socks on over your shoes. Its like putting mayonnaise on your peanut butter sandwich. It's Just Not Done.

(This "don't do it" photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

Yet I know people do it all the time, and they manage to get books written. Obviously, there's no right or wrong way. But there is a way that feels natural to me. I'll stick with it and not feel guilty that I can't stray outside the boundaries of my comfort zone to try someone else's way of doing things. I applaud my pantser friend for trying things my way. She found a nice common ground between the two that works for her. I personally think she may end up following rabbit trails that don't go where they should, so when it comes time to edit she finds herself deleting some unusable prose, but I haven't had any confirmation on my theory yet. And if she does, so what? The more writing you do, the better you get at it. Someone somewhere said it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert at it. If you put in your 10,000 hours and end up deleting some of those words, you've still put in the time. My friend and I have both put in a lot more than 10,000 hours, so I think we're doing dandy.

What about you, loyal readers? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you find yourself somewhere between the two? Can you write in a non-linear fashion without stressing out about it? Share your wisdom with the group.

-Sonja

Pantsers vs. Plotters

Now that I've finished a fabulous series on plotting a great story, it's time to comment on the idea of outlining. I've mentioned this before, but there are two types of writers in the world: those who plot out the entire story before they begin writing (plotters) and those who do little-to-no planning before they begin writing (pantsers, as in by-the-seat-of-the-pants). I'm firmly entrenched in the plotters category. In fact, two weeks ago a great scene popped into my head that took place near the half-way point of my story, but I was only one-quarter of the way through the writing process. I figured I'd better write that scene out before I forgot all the good stuff I came up with. So I wrote it. Then I had to back up to the point where I'd left off and fill in all the stuff that took place between. Talk about anxiety! My poor linear brain is just NOT equipped to deal with non-linear writing. I wrote fast and furious to fill up the space and get that pre-written scene into chronological order with the rest of the story.

I have a pantser friend who has started to come around to my way of thinking (Dragonfallacy, that's you!). She now admits that she plots bits of her story before she writes. Sometimes she starts writing, then plots for a bit, then writes for a bit, then when she gets stuck she goes back to plotting. She admitted to me just today that *gasp* she frequently starts out with a scene at some random place within the first half of the story. She's *accustomed* to writing scenes out of order. I can't even begin to express how wrong that feels to me. It's like an architect trying to build a building without blueprints. Its like putting your socks on over your shoes. Its like putting mayonnaise on your peanut butter sandwich. It's Just Not Done.

(This "don't do it" photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

Yet I know people do it all the time, and they manage to get books written. Obviously, there's no right or wrong way. But there is a way that feels natural to me. I'll stick with it and not feel guilty that I can't stray outside the boundaries of my comfort zone to try someone else's way of doing things. I applaud my pantser friend for trying things my way. She found a nice common ground between the two that works for her. I personally think she may end up following rabbit trails that don't go where they should, so when it comes time to edit she finds herself deleting some unusable prose, but I haven't had any confirmation on my theory yet. And if she does, so what? The more writing you do, the better you get at it. Someone somewhere said it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert at it. If you put in your 10,000 hours and end up deleting some of those words, you've still put in the time. My friend and I have both put in a lot more than 10,000 hours, so I think we're doing dandy.

What about you, loyal readers? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you find yourself somewhere between the two? Can you write in a non-linear fashion without stressing out about it? Share your wisdom with the group.

-Sonja

 

Pantsers vs. Plotters

Now that I've finished a fabulous series on plotting a great story, it's time to comment on the idea of outlining. I've mentioned this before, but there are two types of writers in the world: those who plot out the entire story before they begin writing (plotters) and those who do little-to-no planning before they begin writing (pantsers, as in by-the-seat-of-the-pants). I'm firmly entrenched in the plotters category. In fact, two weeks ago a great scene popped into my head that took place near the half-way point of my story, but I was only one-quarter of the way through the writing process. I figured I'd better write that scene out before I forgot all the good stuff I came up with. So I wrote it. Then I had to back up to the point where I'd left off and fill in all the stuff that took place between. Talk about anxiety! My poor linear brain is just NOT equipped to deal with non-linear writing. I wrote fast and furious to fill up the space and get that pre-written scene into chronological order with the rest of the story.

I have a pantser friend who has started to come around to my way of thinking (Dragonfallacy, that's you!). She now admits that she plots bits of her story before she writes. Sometimes she starts writing, then plots for a bit, then writes for a bit, then when she gets stuck she goes back to plotting. She admitted to me just today that *gasp* she frequently starts out with a scene at some random place within the first half of the story. She's *accustomed* to writing scenes out of order. I can't even begin to express how wrong that feels to me. It's like an architect trying to build a building without blueprints. Its like putting your socks on over your shoes. Its like putting mayonnaise on your peanut butter sandwich. It's Just Not Done.

 

(This "don't do it" photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

Yet I know people do it all the time, and they manage to get books written. Obviously, there's no right or wrong way. But there is a way that feels natural to me. I'll stick with it and not feel guilty that I can't stray outside the boundaries of my comfort zone to try someone else's way of doing things. I applaud my pantser friend for trying things my way. She found a nice common ground between the two that works for her. I personally think she may end up following rabbit trails that don't go where they should, so when it comes time to edit she finds herself deleting some unusable prose, but I haven't had any confirmation on my theory yet. And if she does, so what? The more writing you do, the better you get at it. Someone somewhere said it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert at it. If you put in your 10,000 hours and end up deleting some of those words, you've still put in the time. My friend and I have both put in a lot more than 10,000 hours, so I think we're doing dandy.

What about you, loyal readers? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you find yourself somewhere between the two? Can you write in a non-linear fashion without stressing out about it? Share your wisdom with the group.

-Sonja

 

Pantsers vs. Plotters

Now that I've finished a fabulous series on plotting a great story, it's time to comment on the idea of outlining. I've mentioned this before, but there are two types of writers in the world: those who plot out the entire story before they begin writing (plotters) and those who do little-to-no planning before they begin writing (pantsers, as in by-the-seat-of-the-pants). I'm firmly entrenched in the plotters category. In fact, two weeks ago a great scene popped into my head that took place near the half-way point of my story, but I was only one-quarter of the way through the writing process. I figured I'd better write that scene out before I forgot all the good stuff I came up with. So I wrote it. Then I had to back up to the point where I'd left off and fill in all the stuff that took place between. Talk about anxiety! My poor linear brain is just NOT equipped to deal with non-linear writing. I wrote fast and furious to fill up the space and get that pre-written scene into chronological order with the rest of the story.

I have a pantser friend who has started to come around to my way of thinking (Dragonfallacy, that's you!). She now admits that she plots bits of her story before she writes. Sometimes she starts writing, then plots for a bit, then writes for a bit, then when she gets stuck she goes back to plotting. She admitted to me just today that *gasp* she frequently starts out with a scene at some random place within the first half of the story. She's *accustomed* to writing scenes out of order. I can't even begin to express how wrong that feels to me. It's like an architect trying to build a building without blueprints. Its like putting your socks on over your shoes. Its like putting mayonnaise on your peanut butter sandwich. It's Just Not Done.

(This "don't do it" photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

Yet I know people do it all the time, and they manage to get books written. Obviously, there's no right or wrong way. But there is a way that feels natural to me. I'll stick with it and not feel guilty that I can't stray outside the boundaries of my comfort zone to try someone else's way of doing things. I applaud my pantser friend for trying things my way. She found a nice common ground between the two that works for her. I personally think she may end up following rabbit trails that don't go where they should, so when it comes time to edit she finds herself deleting some unusable prose, but I haven't had any confirmation on my theory yet. And if she does, so what? The more writing you do, the better you get at it. Someone somewhere said it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert at it. If you put in your 10,000 hours and end up deleting some of those words, you've still put in the time. My friend and I have both put in a lot more than 10,000 hours, so I think we're doing dandy.

What about you, loyal readers? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you find yourself somewhere between the two? Can you write in a non-linear fashion without stressing out about it? Share your wisdom with the group.

-Sonja

Outlining for Pantsers by Guest Blogger Cyndi Bishop

I am delighted to present a guest blogger today, my critique partner and friend Cyndi Bishop. First I'll introduce her, then you can read her wonderful words of wisdom. Here she is:

Here's her impressive bio:

Cyndi Bishop lives in the Seattle, WA, area with her husband and dog. She writes and maintains house full time, as well as crocheting, knitting, and watching enough movies to make her a walking IMDb. She has had several articles published by Focus on the Family, but her real focus is novels, especially in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, and adventure. 

Here are Cyndi's thoughts on Outlining for Pantsers: 

Sonja has often referred to the difference between the writers who plan, outline, and develop the entire story before even starting word one versus the writers who simply sit down and start writing with little to no plan (referred to as ‘pantsers,’ from the phrase ‘by the seat of your pants’). While she is a planner, I am a pantser.

 

I used to be a die-hard pantser. My old writing process involved simply pushing characters forward (without any real direction) until I could come up with a direction to point them. This resulted in everything going in repetitive circles before finally reaching the end. The result was clunky and even annoying to read.

 

Still, I resisted the idea of outlining. See, there’s an aspect to being a pantser (pantsing? I don’t think so) that is as addictive as brownie sundaes. When I wrote, new ideas sprang to life from nowhere – and not just at the plot level, either. A particular line of dialogue would spark a new plot point or draw out a character trait that I’d never considered before. A seemingly meaningless detail I’d thrown in for flavor in one chapter would become a hinge point for a major scene later. I delighted in watching my story take on a life of its own.

 

Outlining, on the other hand, felt restrictive. Like I was telling the story where it had to go ahead of time with no freedom for these little details to take life and bring new direction. I hated it.

 

Until I needed it.

 

I was stuck near the end of my novel, going in circles. I finally opened a new document and scribbled down ideas until I came up with a rough map for how to get to the final climax from where I was. And voila! I was no longer stuck. 

I’m still not interested in heavily-detailed outlining. I frequently don’t even know character backstories when I start. But now I outline. It’s not formal. It resembles listening to a ten-year-old kid describing his favorite movie. And new ideas still come to life and blossom organically through the process. But as soon as the spark dies down, I have a structure to return to. I’m a pantser who no longer gets trapped in circles.

 

Whether you’re a planner or a pantser, a little flexibility along the spectrum can go a long way to improve your writing. Good luck!

 

-Cyndi

Story vs. Plot

Anna Elliott at the blog Writer Unboxed has a great article today on plot vs. story. Hop on over and give it a read. It's got some fabulous tips for creating better plots and more moving stories. I'd like to talk a bit about what she wrote and expand on it a little. 

She identifies both terms: "Plot takes our characters on a wild, exciting ride. Story makes our readers feel as though they're on that ride themselves." 

I love those definitions. Plot is all the things your character does, how he does them, when he does them, and who he does them with. Story is all about the character himself, the conflict he faces, the emotions he goes through, the changes that occur within him because of the things he does (plot). 

Randy Ingermanson, in his book Writing Fiction for Dummies identifies five pillars of fiction: Setting, Character, Plot, Theme, and Style. Combined, you have a story. Plot is just one of the pieces of story. When all five pieces are fitted together properly, they provide the reader with a powerful emotional experience (Randy's phrase there). 

I've read in countless books that there are two kinds of writers in the world: those who create a structure first, and those who just fling themselves into their writing without bothering to know what's coming up. Those two groups are lovingly referred to as Plotters and Pantsers (that'd be the shorter version of "flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants"). I'm definitely a plotter. I need to have a full outline of my story before I even begin writing. I need to know how the story ends, when the major conflicts will pop up, who all my major characters are (including their goals and weaknesses--not just the protagonist, but ALL the major characters). I even create an images file, where I put photos of people that look like my characters. To me, writing without knowing where I'm going is absolutely impossible, and I don't understand Pantsers at all.

Maybe some of you who are Pantsers could fill me in. How do you create a story without knowing your plot in advance?

-Sonja