Are You a Pantser or Plotter

In the writing community, there is a lot of debate among authors about being a plotter or a pantser. For some authors, they are die-hard plotters. They organize and outline their writing so it’s more manageable. Other writers write by the seat of their pants. They know where they want to start and work creatively toward a conclusion. I, however, fall somewhere in the middle.

I outline and plan the major plot points of my story. These are like anchors for me. It’s like using a compass in the woods. I have a starting point and I see the destination somewhere ahead, but the space in between is new and fresh and exciting. When I arrive at the next plot point, I set my sights on the next anchor and then work toward it. Every author has their own way to manage their writing. Do what works for you.

So, how do I go about organizing my writing? I start out by plotting the major anchors of my story. I think of the inciting incident, the key event, the point of no return, the first pinch point, the midpoint, the second pinch point, the third plot point, the false climax, the twist, and finally the climax. These are the major element I begin working with. Now, understand, I don’t magically come up with them sequentially all at the same time. It takes time and effort to come up with the right ideas. And those plot points may change over the course of my planning. But eventually I’ll carve out the anchors to my story.

What’s next? More planning. I have to come up with scenes that make up the spaces in between these major points. The chapters which are bookended in between these points are comprised of individual scenes. A chapter may have one primary scene or it could have two or three. So, I craft smaller events that fit into these scenes.

Think of a long shelf full of books. That shelf is not a continuous run-on of books one after the other. The books are separated or segmented by bookends that hold the books in place. These bookends represent the major plot points (e.g. inciting incident, first plot point, second plot point, etc.). The books, however, represent the minor events that create the rise and fall of tension and conflict. The pages that fill those books are all the scenes that comprise continual ebb and flow of scenes for the story. So, without the bookends the shelf of books would fall into disarray.

As I described earlier about using a compass in the woods and anchor points for working through a story, I use the major and minor points I’ve outlined to create a shell or skeleton. To begin with, that skeleton is bare bones. It is my job to craft the story so that by the time I’m done, I have something special and unique. How that is done is by crafting a full-bodied story around the skeleton and giving it life.

A pantser might say that by plotting the skeleton takes out all the fun. I disagree. The skeleton gives me something to hold onto. The exciting part for me is creating the story in between the individual plot points. I don’t exactly know what is going to happen or to whom it will happen to, but that is where the thrill comes in. I follow the thread of the story and add to it as I go along until it begins to take form.

I hope I’ve illustrated how I fit somewhere in between a plotter and a pantser. Every writer has their own way of doing things. Do what works best for you. If you’re not sure where your style fits, try your hand at writing a short story by the seat-of-your-pants and see how it goes. Then write another one by plotting out the story and then filling in the details. With those two examples in mind, determine which method works best for you.

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