I was asked months ago to write about the difference between Pantsing and Plotting, which are considered the two schools of author prep. The truth is that most people are a combination of the two with more of one than the other. I’m definitely much more of a Plotter, but I leave an opening for spontaneous ideas and change plans if something comes up when writing. So, how can I give a fresh take on this topic?
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Tease both sides with exaggerations? Sure. It’s nearing the end of 2019, so let’s try to get some laughs.
- You know you’re a Plotter when you have more notebooks than articles of clothing. Only one of them has been filled, but damned if you know where you put that after you cleaned your area ten years ago. One of these days, you’re going to organize the plans and figure out what you’re doing. Just as soon as you finish another outline.
- You know you’re a Pantser when you put more time and effort into getting comfortable than planning your story. Thirty minutes to get coffee, spray air freshener on your comfy pants, cook a snack, go to the bathroom, and make sure the DVR is set to tape that show your friends told you about. Wait, what if the DVR doesn’t work? You can’t wait for it to be on streaming . . . The idea will still be there tomorrow.
- You know you’re a Plotter when you scream and yell at your characters for ruining your outline. You can’t even find paper to tear in rage since everything has notes that might be important.
- You know you’re a Pantser when your story goes off the rails and it’s the first time you notice there were rails to begin with. First reaction is to point at empty air next to you and say ‘my protagonist’ did it. This is done whether someone is there or not.
- You know you’re a Plotter when you’re asked about your story and you go into extreme detail. Not only of the story, but the connected tales, your inspiration, and the type of pencil you used to write your character names. Most people will leave before you finish, but a few will make it to the end because they became too old to hear what you’re saying anyway.
- You know you’re a Pantser when you’re asked about your story and you shrug. When pressed for information, you get the genre right and utter a few plot points. Only one of those is from your own story while the rest is what you remember from that show you DVR’d. Oh crap, is this the friend who suggested it? Just smile and nod until they ask how your ‘real’ job is going. Then break into tears and run away shouting that they never had faith in you.
You know what? I’m open to seeing if anyone can come up with others. Have fun with it and try not to be too mean. Enjoy.
Legends of Windemere 
You got the panster down pat! I don´t know about the plotter as I´ve never been one.
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Thanks. Feel like I got the plotter one pretty well too. I’m more on that side with pantser tendencies while writing.
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You know you’re a plotter when you’d like to kill off that annoying character, but know he has a big moment 50,000 words from where you are today.
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That one gets me every time. I usually look at it as he/she will redeem themselves.
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You know you’re a plotter when your logline to pitch your novel is 500 words instead of the standard one or two sentences. You know you’re pantser when it takes you four ums to describe your book. “Um I think it’s probably a girl who um goes somewhere that I have yet to figure out and meets um someone who might be the love interest and they go on an adventure, um somewhere.” 😀 😁 (I have been both.)
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I wonder about that first one. I’ve met some pantsers that keep going as if they’re fixing plot holes as they explain.
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You know you are a panster when you have given your hero at least three names as you progress through the book and for the life of you the first name is totally forgotten.. Fun one, Charles
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Ouch. That’s a heartbreak.
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Hahahaha.
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I’m definitely in the middle. I do have notebooks where I create character maps and I have a rough bullet-points outline, but I deviate from my plans often and I don’t ever create very detailed outlines. Rough plot-markers at best and usually I change those as I go.
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Same here. I think most people are in the middle somewhere. You can’t predict it all once you start writing and you need to have some idea of where you’re going.
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You know you’re a Pantser when you typing away and you hit a wall so you have no choice but to plot later
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Curious to know how often that happens to people who claim to be 100% pantser.
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A lot, from experience. It’s never good to be a straight pantser unless it’s poetry or flash fiction
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Not unless you’re good at adapting and remembering past stuff. The longer the work, the harder it is to go without a plan. Though I’m sure there are people who can pull it off. Can’t be easy.
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I used to think Iwas one of those people lol
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I was always primarily a plotter. When I started in high school, I never had much actual writing time. So, I jotted stuff down in notebooks during my free periods.
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Me either – I was too stressed to get anything off the ground and I was more visual oriented at the time. It was only after graduating I found the joys in writing.
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I went to college for creative writing, so I was happy to get some time. Not as much as I expected because of General Education requirements and a desire to be social.
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You know your a plotter if you’re wearing pants. Pantsers may actually forget that detail.
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Hmmm. Story checks out.
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Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this great post from Charles Yallowitz’s blog that asks the question: Pantser Vs Plotter: Where Do You Stand?
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Thanks for sharing
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You’re welcome.
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I’m in between. It’s more that I know who my characters are and what they want, than I know 3 plot points. Also, when I feel like the story is off track I have to stop and stare at my “map” for a while.
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Knowing characters can be enough at times. They tend to drive the story more than people realize.
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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Thanks for sharing.
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You know you’re a Plantser when you have a 10-page outline… and it’s irrelevant after the first 20,000 words.
Not that I’ve ever done that. Nope, never. Why are you looking at me that way?
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I’ve had to rewrite outlines at times. Thankfully, I never had it go that far south.
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Yep, I’m a pantster. I love the fact that I get to find out what’s happening at the same time as the reader will. So what if my characters go a little off-piste? That’s the sequel, prequel or spin-off sorted at the same time.
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I get that. Personally, I worry so much about continuity and knowing where I’m going that I’m not comfortable without an outline. Do you ever find that your characters go so off to the side that the initial idea is lost?
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Not yet. I guess that if they did, I could always start again. What if where they went was better than my idea?
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That’s entirely possible. As long as the story makes sense and it isn’t a wild series of rabbit holes.
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I’m a dreamster 🙂
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What’s that?
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I’m a pantster in that I don’t plot (for me it kills the story stone dead) but I lucid dream so what I ‘see’ the night before is what I write the next day, and the next etc (depends how far ahead the dreams go). I fill in any bits that are missing obviously.
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Interesting method. I find it curious that you say a story dies for you if you plot anything.
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I’m such a plotter, sometimes, by the end of the day, the outline for a short story will be just a few descriptors away from being the actual short story.
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My outlines get that way at times too. Helped to restrict myself to one per chapter section, but it gets dicey at times.
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You know you’re a pantster when you write your plan after you’ve written the story.
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Great one.
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Hahaha! Those are some funny insights. I’m more of a plotter when it comes to my traditional books, but I am a pantser when I write cell phone novels, but even then I still have some basic outlines.
Yes, I own more notebooks than I do articles of clothing. Guilty as charged!
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Never heard of cellphone novels. Is that a book you write on a phone?
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