Writing Styles - Plotting
I’m a “Pantser”. This means I usually write by the seat of my pants. When I sit down to create a novel I often just have a vague idea with an opening scene, and hopefully, but not necessarily, an ending. I may not know who the main characters are, or their stories. If I’m fortunate, I may have some ideas jotted down that I plan to incorporate into the tale. I often like to say, “I write to find out how the story will end.”
The opposite of “Pantser” is “Plotter.” Dedicated plotters will have spent hours, days, months, outlining what they are going to write. They will have detailed scenes and chapters, written out their character’s backstories in detail, and have a firm idea of where they are going long before they begin. They may have story charts pasted up on the walls and running all around the room.
When I have an idea for a story I want to sit down and start writing it, not spend the next 6 to 12 months in planning how I’m going to do it. But that is just me.
The good news is there is no one way, or right way, to write a novel. The secret is to discover what system works best for you. It may even turn out to be a combination of both methods.
For example, I learned early on of the need to make copious notes as I go along. In one of my early novellas, I changed the spelling of the main character’s name halfway through. In another case, the publisher asked me to turn a novel into a trilogy. I had to go back and re-read the first book, making detailed notes on character’s names, histories as I had created them, country names etc. In effect, it sounds as though I’m plotting in reverse. The characters often take over, evolving into something completely different from what I anticipated at the beginning. I have to discover their motivation; their backstory. “Why does the wizard want to kidnap the queen?” “Why is the princess so bitchy?” “Why does the queen’s brother act the way he does?” “Who is the murderer, and why?”
The moral of all of this is to write the way that works best for you and don’t be afraid to change or use bits of both methods. I can start to write a Housetrap Chronicles novella simply based on a title I came up with, like “The Road to Hell is Paved with Parsnips,” or I can take the time to do some research and sketch out a lot more detail before I start such as in the “Toltec Trilogy.”
Use the method that is most comfortable for you and don’t hesitate to experiment.
The opposite of “Pantser” is “Plotter.” Dedicated plotters will have spent hours, days, months, outlining what they are going to write. They will have detailed scenes and chapters, written out their character’s backstories in detail, and have a firm idea of where they are going long before they begin. They may have story charts pasted up on the walls and running all around the room.
When I have an idea for a story I want to sit down and start writing it, not spend the next 6 to 12 months in planning how I’m going to do it. But that is just me.
The good news is there is no one way, or right way, to write a novel. The secret is to discover what system works best for you. It may even turn out to be a combination of both methods.
For example, I learned early on of the need to make copious notes as I go along. In one of my early novellas, I changed the spelling of the main character’s name halfway through. In another case, the publisher asked me to turn a novel into a trilogy. I had to go back and re-read the first book, making detailed notes on character’s names, histories as I had created them, country names etc. In effect, it sounds as though I’m plotting in reverse. The characters often take over, evolving into something completely different from what I anticipated at the beginning. I have to discover their motivation; their backstory. “Why does the wizard want to kidnap the queen?” “Why is the princess so bitchy?” “Why does the queen’s brother act the way he does?” “Who is the murderer, and why?”
The moral of all of this is to write the way that works best for you and don’t be afraid to change or use bits of both methods. I can start to write a Housetrap Chronicles novella simply based on a title I came up with, like “The Road to Hell is Paved with Parsnips,” or I can take the time to do some research and sketch out a lot more detail before I start such as in the “Toltec Trilogy.”
Use the method that is most comfortable for you and don’t hesitate to experiment.
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