I've Got a Theory: Character Pantsers

Generally speaking, we are each better at either plot, characters, or setting, right? (Click here to see a fun poll on whether plot, setting, or characters came first.) One of those three tends to come more easily to us. It's the thing that feels most real in the first draft. It's the thing that feels most clear to you as you're writing.

And although we're all somewhere in the middle, we each consider ourselves to be either a plotter or a pantser / discovery writer, right?

Here's where my theory comes into play. You ready?

Discovery writers (a.k.a. pantsers) tend to be strongest at writing characters.

I know that a lot of writers get a character (or characters) in mind, then plop them down somewhere in the middle of a situation and see what they'll do. Who wants to plot that? The fun is seeing how the character(s) react to the situation, and then see where it goes from there. It totally works!

On the other hand, you can't really plop a plot down amongst characters in a setting, and see what the plot does. You can't really plop a setting down amongst characters and a plot, and see what the setting does. Obviously both the plot and the setting is colored by everything and colors everything, but it's not the driving force.

So let's go about proving / disproving my theory, shall we? In the comments, tell me what you're strongest at (plot, setting, or character), and whether you're primarily a plotter or a pantser. (Or use whatever phrase you prefer to call it.) I'll start us out.

I'm a Setting / Plotter.

You?

Why I plot the ends and pants the middle

Hi guys! Just a quick note to let you know that I'm over at The Lucky 13s today talking about Plotting, Pantsing, and that magical space between. Come on over!

Quotes and Cookies: Departing Outlines

"For all my longer works, for example novels, I write chapter outlines so I can have the pleasure of departing from them later on."

~Garth Nix

This quote KILLS ME! I'm not even sure why I love it so much. Maybe because it gives us permission to be a plotter. Permission to be a pantser. But more importantly, permission to waver between the two as much as we want. Who says we have to label ourselves one or the other? (In fact, who says we even need "permission" for any of it?) I'm willing to bet that most people aren't at one end of the plotter-pantser continuum or the other; we are somewhere in the middle. We plot parts, we pants parts. And whatever way works for us is the way we should do it.

And because I love fortune cookies something fierce, and because they seem to fit with a fun quote, let's share a few! Oh, and fun side note: Shortly after he got his first book deal, Brandon Mull (of FABLEHAVEN fame) got a fortune cookie that read, "You will become a New York Times Bestselling Author." I keep thinking that if I eat enough fortune cookies, I will get that one someday, too. :o)

So have one with me! May your fortune be the best one EVER.

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

P.S. I'm opening mine RIGHT NOW. Hmmm... "Unveil your ideas. Be ready to act on them." No NYT Bestselling Author, but still a good one to get in the middle of drafting.

If you get a good one, be sure to tell us about it!

The Way We Are: Pantser, Plotter, or Inbetween?

Pantser, or Plotter. That's the question, right?

Do you plot out every aspect of your book before writing, or do you just start, and see where the muse takes you?

I used to think that everyone was either a plotter or a pantser. You hung out over there with the pants, or over there with the plot (where I swore I hung out). Then I realized that it isn't really a one-or-the-other kind of thing. Plotter or Pantser. Really, it's more like this:

And most everyone is probably somewhere in the middle-- not at one end or the other. I would call myself a plotter. I love figuring out things in my head and on paper and on plots and with images, verses figuring them out as I type. I don't usually have every detail mapped out chapter by chapter, but every time I hear of someone doing that, I get wistful, and think about how I'M TOTALLY DOING THAT IN MY NEXT BOOK.

Then I realized that I'm actually somewhere in the middle. Toward the plotting side, definitely, but I don't actually like to figure out everything ahead of time. I figure out the story arc, character arcs, major plot points, all of the beginning, and a good deal about characters. But there's a lot I KNOW I can't figure out until I work it out in the writing. There is some definite pantsing going on from my corner over here.

So how about you? Where do you stand in the Plotter / Pantser continuum?