Plotter or Pantser? Who am I?
As a member of quite a few writing communities, I see this happen a lot. Our coffee-drinking, 5 a.m.-dependant cult seems to interrogate itself often about the nature of their writing process. Am I a pantser? Am I a plotter? Should I be one or the other? Can I be both?
To answer this question, I think it’s necessary to have a look at what each term entails, and how both methods can work for our creative aim.
As I see it, plotting and pantsing are just methods of tackling the first idea.
Plotting entails writing down a plot outline before you start writing. If you’re a plotter, you will want to get all the details and ‘plot points’ right before you actually sit down and write.
If you’re pantsing, on the other hand, you write down ideas as they come to you, without necessarily following an outline. Pantsing, in my experience, is something that has more to do with following the emotion that drove you to tell the story. Details? You can think about them later. Spontaneousness? That’s much more important.
Of course, whatever method you pick at the beginning of your project can be improved: pantsers can fix plot details while they review the first draft, and plotters can add depth to characters and colour to scenes as they go along!
Now: I said there are two methods. In truth, there is one method per each writer in the world. Many writers, however, are comfortable with adopting one term or the other to signal what kind of process they (usually) follow!
Some well-known authors, like J. K. Rowling, define themselves as plotters on a quest to have each detail nailed to the board before they start. Some others, like Stephen King, prefer to pants and develop their story as go along, following what their inner, spontaneous pilot suggests!
George R. R. Martin, on the other hand, sees himself as a hybrid between the two. He described his process of writing the Game of Thrones series as a bit of both. He pantsed each of his character, instinctively following where they went and how they changed as the narrative progressed, but he used a detailed step-by-step outline for the overall plot.
So, is he a plotter or a pantser? Both. Neither. He just adopted whatever method felt right for different purposes.
Personally, I believe each story demands to be written in its own, unique way. There are stories that want to be plotted, and stories that preserve their true flavour only when being genuinely pantsed.
As a general rule, I believe both methods are useful and can, in many cases, be combined. While you might want to follow a feeling and dive head-first into your story, you might find halfway through that an outline can actually help you nailing that feeling just perfectly.
So, what writer are you? Experiment with both and you’ll find out. Or, maybe, there’s no need to find out.
