Several months ago, my writing group held a plotting workshop and the presenter asked us to consider whether we were plotters or pantsers. I'd never heard the term pantser before and didn't even know what she meant. As she continued to speak, it became clear that she was referring to two methods of writing. In essence, most writers are either the type who spend some time formally plotting out their story or they are the type who simply write by the seat of their pants, relying on their muse to keep the words coming in a steady flow.I used to be a pantser. I get story ideas all the time. Sometimes they come to me so vividly that I sit down and start writing. I've started writing lots of stories. And therein lies the dilemma of being a pantser. Inspiration isn't consistent and doesn't come in a steady flow. There has to be something more, at least for me, to keep the story going, to bridge that chasm between the inspired beginning and the happy ending or resolution that I know will come at the end.
I'm currently taking an online plotting course and it is helping me attack that daunting middle. This particular plotting course provides an outline of the rising and falling action and plot points in a story. It has forced me to think about the conflicts and tension in the middle of the story. One exercise required me to come up with twenty things that happen to my hero and heroine during the course of their story. That exercise may have been more helpful as any other.
I still get distracted when writing my story. In fact, the more I write, the more I think of other stories to write. It's a wonderful part of being a writer. However, I have to exert discipline now. I write down my nugget of a story - a scene, a synopsis, a character sketch or two - and then I go back to my current work in progress. And, while writing, I continually refer back to those plotting exercises, and they help to keep me on track.
So, I think I can finally say that I am a reformed pantser! And, to the argument that says that plotting reduces the spontaneity and passion of writing, I say that I would gladly trade spontaneity and passion for a finished manuscript.
