WT*: Plotter VS Pantser

Alright. Here, finally, is the post I've been meaning to write for a month. It was inspired by one of Kathrine Roid's posts on the same subject, which for the life of me I cannot find again for some reason. :-P

I don't know if this can exactly be qualified as a "writing technique," but if nothing else I'll be using it as a means to enter into that sphere.

In her post, Kathrine wrote that she identified herself more as a pantser** than a plotter. Funnily enough, I've always identified myself more as a planner, sometimes even 'compulsory planner,' and have only recently dabbled in the scary and forbidden art known as pantsing. No one can tell you which suits your style best except you. Some feel planning and then writing is like writing a novel twice which takes the thrill out of it. Others, like myself, feel they need some kind of map of the world they're adventuring into in order to feel confident they'll make it to the other side. My advice is that it's best to try out both styles and see in practice which one fits you best.

Here are a few pros and cons of planning from my opinion:

PROS

1) You know where you're going. And most of the time that results in not getting lost along the way. Fewer days of "oh good cow, my character needs to get to the other side of that river in the next three days and they're out in the sahara." This can make writing a whole novel much easier and less excruciating. When I wrote Electrostatic Fantasy for the first time, I plotted the scene sequence out for the most part and 50,000 felt easy. There were only a couple points at which I lost momentum. But otherwise it was only down to sitting my butt down and writing, not being put off because I had no ideas. And I also felt that that kept the story interesting for me, another thing which inspired me to write.

2) You can handle the barriers before you get to them. A plot is like a summary of the novel in your head. Thoughts can be such fickle things. Kind of like the surface of a pond, they look so crystal clear when you're gazing at them, but when you try to move them around they flicker and jumble about. And then you're not sure what exactly went where. A plot helps you arrange those ideas a little and helps to spot (and of course handle) the biggest and baddest plot troubles that exist. For example, you know Prince Charming will charge the dragon's keep on the other side of the kingdom at the end, but you'd forgotten that you killed his horse in chapter two. How's he going to get there in less than a month? The more detailed you get, the more you'll pick up finer flaws. But the key is to keep it a 'plot,' so straying on the simple side is best.

3) It can be inspiring. It's like getting a first small glimpse at all the best bits in your novel. Like those commercials of movies that show you clips of the exciting or funny parts, you'll be getting a "sneak" preview of what's to come in your novel. Especially once I'd figured out the ending, I couldn't wait to get cracking and get to the later parts which I really wanted to write.

CONS

a) It doesn't always work. Even if you're a veteran plotter, it doesn't always guarantee a smooth ride. A novel of mine, which is incomplete for now, gave me such plotting troubles that you'll most likely hear me gripe on about it until publishing day and beyond. I re-plotted Arkanos - Memorycatcher at least four times. Yes, four times, nearly from scratch per go. The more you plot the more you learn to pick up what exactly is the trouble with any particular bit. But even so you can (and possibly will) run into stories that have you scratching your head anyway.

b) You can lose sight of it. A plot is supposed to be a short summary, like a rough diagram of your story to give you some direction and foresight. But it's possible to get too into it and lose sight of keeping it simple. I strayed there, and started to feel like it was too much work. Of course it was a lot of work, I was basically writing the story out!

c) You can rely too heavily on it. Getting comfortable with doing plotting because it's your style is fine. But relying too much on your plotting notes can land you in a fix. I was writing a scene once and realised I had to add a new dialogue to it. But I hadn't plotted this. I was frozen for a moment, thinking what I should do and how I would do it. You mustn't forget that you're the writer, the source, the all-powerful god that rules over your domain that is your novel. If it isn't written in the plot, the you need to create it then and there. A manual on how to write your own book doesn't exist anywhere. You bringing it to life is what makes it magic. :)

Overall

I prefer plotting over pantsing myself because it normally helps me write more effectively. I get inspired and motivated and often manage to pick up the worst troubles before NaNoWriMo begins, rather than getting stuck with them in the middle of it. But pantsing (the approach I've taken with the SkAI Butterfly) feels rather therapeutic. It's fun to "just write" instead of figuring it all out before hand. And especially if you're not exactly even sure what the story will be about, just beginning to type can be a form of plotting in itself. You're writing it to figure it out.

Well, those were my thoughts on Plotting VS Pantsing. What do you guys think? What do you reckon are the Pros and Cons of pantsing? Which style suits you best?

Next time (once I get around to it ^_^) I'll be writing about how to plot by outlining my own technique.

Until then ;)

*WT is short for 'writing technique(s)'

**Pantser is a NaNoWriMo term that means that you 'fly by the seat of your pants' when you are writing your novel. You have nothing but the absolute basics planned out for your novel.

This attitude towards writing is often opposed by the 'planner', who knows exactly what is going to happen, when it will happen, and where it will happen. Sourced from urbandictionary.com.