Are you a Pantser, a Plotter, or somewhere in between?
If you’re a writer, you have probably heard these terms, but
just in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me define them by how I
see them.
Pantser – a person who writes off-the-cuff, or by-the-seat-of-their-pants.
No plans other than a basic idea.
Plotter – a pantser who writes out the book in the form of
an outline – chapter by chapter, or scene by scene - instead of in story form.
They then take said outline, which is close to the final length of the book and
they add a few words here and there and then it’s done. (Of course, this is a
bit exaggerated, but you get the idea.)
Somewhere in between – this group makes up the majority of
the writing population. They are neither a full pantser or a full plotter.
Let’s imagine them on a number line. If one is the die-hard
pantser and 100 is the gotta-outline plotter then I fall somewhere around a
number three.
I tried with my latest WIP (work-in-progress) to plot a few
chapters. My experiment failed miserably. When I sat to write, the words would
not come. I had plotted myself into a corner and I didn’t know how to get out
of it. I threw away the outline and just started the book, but unfortunately I
think my attempts at plotting thwarted the story for me. I cannot hear my
characters (yep, it sounds crazy, but they have to talk to me) anymore and have
set it aside until they come back out to play.
When I wrote One
Choice, I started with a premise – a prince who has reached the age of
twenty-five and is not yet married, and according to the custom of his country
— Balikaria (fictional) — he must find a wife through a centuries old
tradition. That’s it. From there the story was written and morphed into what it
is now.
So which are you – a pantser, a plotter, or somewhere in
between? Where would you fall on the number line?
About Ginger:
Short bio:
Ginger Solomon is a Christian, a wife, a mother to seven,
and a writer—in that order (mostly). When not homeschooling her youngest five,
doing laundry or fixing dinner, she writes or reads romance of any genre. She’s
a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, president of her local writing
group, and writes regularly for three blogs.
Long bio:
Ginger Solomon is a Christian, a wife, a mother to seven,
and a writer — in that order (mostly). When not homeschooling her youngest
five, doing laundry or fixing dinner, she writes or reads romance of any genre,
some sci-fi/fantasy, and some suspense. She’s a member of American Christian
Fiction Writers, president of her local writing group, and writes regularly for
three blogs. In addition to all that, she loves animals, horses especially,
likes to do needlework (knitting, crocheting, and sometimes cross-stitch), and
loves to sing in the choir at church.
My Links:
One Choice blurb:
Cahri
Michaels is American by birth, but Belikarian by choice. Being selected to
participate in the Bridal March forces her to give up the independent life
she’s created for herself. She’s not ready to be anyone’s wife, much less to a
man she doesn’t know.
Prince Josiah
Vallis despises the centuries old tradition—the Bridal March—that is forcing
him to choose a wife from fifty women. Why does it matter that he’s twenty-five
and still single?
When Cahri
and Josiah meet, sparks fly. Will it ignite a godly love that can see them
through or will they be burned, never to be the same?
One Choice links:
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