Hi everyone.

Last time I talked about brainstorming, but another question keeps cropping up during discussions with my fellow writers. Are you a plotter or a pantster?

Do you prefer to have all your ducks in a row before starting a story? Do you want to know what is going to happen in every chapter from beginning to end? Then you are a plotter.

Plotters are meticulous about details concerning their characters physical traits. They know where every mole, tattoo, and dimple are located. They research the subject matter of everything intensely before a word hits paper. It may take the author a good four months from the concept to the first chapter.

On the other hand, do you get an idea for a dynamite story, sit down and write, letting the story take its own direction? Do you find yourself not writing for a few days to iron out a problem you didn't envision between chapters 2 and 10? Then you write by the seat of your pants--a pantster.

Pantsters get it down on paper and worry about details later. Revisions are their middle names. They can often finish an 80,000 word manuscript in under 3 months. However, where the plotter spends his/her time with details on the front end, the pantster does it on the finished product with lots of editing.

I know very few total plotters or pantsters. The concensus seems to be that most authors are a combination. I often have a terrific idea, write the first couple of chapters, and then stop to do the plotting. I found that detailed plotting three or four chapters ahead works best for me. I make a list called, "What must happen" and mark which chapters I want to put them in. I don't always use what I list, and frequently add to the numbers as I write and new ideas come.

So, let me know. Are you a plotter, a pantster, or both?

Until next time, have a great weekend.

Suzanne