Pantser . . . or Plotter . . .or?

The whole Pantser vs Plotter thing has always been amusing to me. Why? Because I was clearly a Plotter: I knew who my characters were, I knew where they were going and I knew what was going to happen along the way. So, writing was just a matter of putting it all down on the page, and that would happen pretty darn quickly.

Now there's nothing wrong with being a Pantser, but for me the thought of just sitting down and putting stuff on the page without some foreknowledge just seems strange and somewhat unprepared. This is not to say that my characters don't from time to time stand up and shout, "Hey, this is what really needs to happen!" but they generally go along with the initial game plan.

So, then I moved to longer format prose and found myself languishing in the middle of a novel. The opening chapters were gripping, filled with hints and peopled with colorful characters. There was a clearly defined end-goal where everything was explained, tied up and finished. Yet I wandered, lost and confused, in a vast wasteland of various characters, plots, subplots and red herrings, all clammering for attention on the page. Yikes! I realized, Maybe I really am a Pantser?!

What to do? The answer--take a class!

Yes! I signed up for a plotting workshop, developed and moderated by two successful romance writers. Out of this workshop I have developed material for a novel (maybe even a series). I know who's who, what's what and how everything is going to proceed scene by scene, and--get this--HAVEN'T WRITTEN ONE WORD OF NARRATIVE PROSE! Wow! Nothing like expanding your skill set!

But you ask, what did I actually find out? I discovered that I'm really kinda in the middle--sort of a big idea Plotter or detail-oriented Pantser so to speak.

I'm okay with that 'cause now I have a better understanding of how I work and can be more productive because of that.

'Til next time!