I've been writing since I was a kid. I bet this is nothing special only to me, since kids are naturally imaginative. For my part, I'd just pick up a pen and use those scratch papers my mom brought home from work (I'd ask her for those) and scribble some silly stories that I conjured up in my head. Since hitting my 30's, I've picked up my pen again and started writing short stories. I've graduated from that now, and since last year, I've been working on my first series. (Yay!)
Since I began drafting my first series, I've become a plotter full stop. If you're a writer, you know what I mean.A plotter is someone who makes his or her outline of events for their novel before he or she writes that draft. Of course, having an outline does a lot of good for obvious reasons. You get to gather your ideas and thoughts first before wasting your time typing on your keyboard.
But not like everyone likes the idea of planning things beforehand. Some just like the fun of their butt in chair, treating writing like an adventure where they bask in the thrill of not knowing where to go until their ideas pop in their head. People like those are called pantsers, or writers who write as they go. I used to do that when I wrote short stories, but I decided to be a plotter once I started writing my first series because I wanted to save so much time.
I never realized writing a book can be so hard. There's just too many scenes, plot lines and characters to keep track of that being a pantser won't make sense to me at all. How would I make sure that the story I'll come up with makes sense if I hadn't weighed them heavily beforehand?
Of course there are pantsers out there. I heard that Stephen King is kind of a pantser, and someone like that can write stories out of thin air and it will still look good. But being a plotter works for some people like me.
Interested in being a plotter? Still not convinced? Here are some learning materials I've found on the web. If you think plotting is way too hard, or is a waste of time, or takes the fun out of writing, read these and let them do the talking.
- Writing: How To Use the Snowflake Technique to Write A Novel
- 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
- 5,000 Words Per Hour: Write Faster, Write Smarter
- Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success
- Plot Development: Charts and Tips for Outlining and Plotting a Novel
- Take Off Your Pants! Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing
So, if you're reading this and you happen to be working on something, which kind of writer are you? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Why? Are you even thinking of switching it up?