No, it’s not an insult or a euphemism. I am a Plantser.
Recently, I have read various posts about writers who have declared themselves proud Pantser’s or dedicated Plotters; and with what was initially a vague idea of the terms, it led me to wonder where I sat on the scale.
A Pantser, someone who writes as if they were flying by the ‘seat of their pants’. They do not plan any of their writing beyond a loose idea.
A Plotter, someone who plans and plots their story to a large degree before even picking up a pen. They do not ‘wing’ their writing but ensure there is a structure to be followed.
Historically, I have not planned a lot into my writing because, well… the stories have already existed in my head. But I havn’t just winged them either, transfering their original idea from dream journal into a story. I also adapted them to feel more natural and rounded rather than something like a Picasso painting. So that would set me in between these right? Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to…
A Plantser, someone who dabbles in both scripture and folk-lore (so says me). They plan key elements, but let the rest come as they write. They could do a little or more of each but the fact remains, they do not rely on one solution.
I am naturally a Plantser in the way that I approach my writing – with or without my dream journal – yet I wasn’t fully aware of this until now. So as I look begin expanding one of my unpublished short stories into a larger book (more to follow on this soon), discovering this about myself has helped me identify a method to best tackle my writing habits and improve the content I deliver my readers.
