Plotter or Pantser - Two Ways to Tell Your Story

PLOTTER OR PANTSER – TWO WAY TO TELL YOUR STORY
Last weekend I was chatting with a room full of writers about our process. Every writer is different and one way is that some are "plotters" while others are "pantsers." I am a plotter. 
That doesn’t mean i have anything against the pantser community it’s just not the way I usually work. Here in my blog I will compare and contrast those two approaches to writing, not trying to decide if one path is better than the other, but rather to see which might be better for you, and to see the plusses and minuses of each. 
To start we should define our terms. All writers use plots. But when I say “plotter” I mean a person who creates an outline before they begin creating prose. The outline is the sequence of events, the plot of the story they are writing. The outline is in effect the skeleton of the story. Once that is in place and solid, the writer puts the flesh on those bones in the form of written prose and dialog.
What I call a pantser is a writer who figuratively flies by the seat of his pants. This person begins to lay down his prose without knowing all the details of what will happen later on, or maybe not knowing any of what will happen. He is like a driver on a dark road at night. He can only see as far as the headlight beams go, but he trusts that there is more road out there ahead.
So why would you want to be a plotter? Well, are you a builder? I think for those of us who are more comfortable working from an outline the story starts with the events. We like to construct a neat puzzle or a tramatic sequence, one building block sitting neatly on the one before. We begin with a theoretical straight line from here to there, from the beginning to the end of the tale.
Next week we'll look at some examples of how a plotter works as opposed the the way a pantser works out a story. And please feel free to add your comments and questions!