The Joys of Being a Pantser

So, for those who don’t know (I’m looking at you, Misi), there are two basic types of writers: pantsers and plotters. Pantsers are people who make the stories up as they go along. They “write by the seat of their pants”, if you will. Plotters are, of course, people who plan out everything before writing a word of the book itself. Not exactly rocket science, you ken?

While most writers fall somewhere in between the two extremes, they usually identify with one camp or the other. I, safely ensconced in the world of averagedom, am no different. I’m a pantser, but I do a little skeleton plotting, too. I have the overall concept, the ending, and a few key turning points in my head before I begin to write, and I like to plan a step or two ahead of where I’m at currently. So if my characters are about to go into the spooky mansion, I’ve already decided that Scooby’s going to accidentally hit a hidden switch on the stairwell that separates him from the rest of the group and completely freak out. I may not know where he’s going to end up yet, but I’m a still a step ahead of them.

Now, what does this have to do with anything? In terms of world viewpoint and attempted contribution to the literati, absolutely nothing. I’m just excited because I may have found a twist to the heroine’s backstory in BEAR that’d make it look like I’m a plotter while still being true to my pantser roots. *Grins* It’s the little things in life.