Plotter Vs. Panster

What is a plotter or punster you might ask? Well they are two types of writers. There is also a combination of both types that are used by some writers. Let’s take a look at what each of the writing types do to help you understand the different ways of writing.

Plotter, this is a technique where you plan out what is going to happen throughout the whole story. Where the characters will find problems that they have to overcome, where characters meet other characters. This is usually accomplished with an outline. Some plotters use a loose outline, others use a very detailed outline. The main understanding though is that plotters, well, they plot their stories. This type of writer enjoys doing this to keep the story on track and to know before writing what is going to happen and when these things will occur. I myself have tried to plot and plan my stories, but honestly this does not work for me. By the time I am finished chapter one, the story has already changed from what I had written in my outline. Or, my characters take me in a different direction and my story becomes something completely different from what I had first planned. So, I stopped plotting and decided to just wing it, become a panster.

Panster, this type of writer is much more open to changes in their plotting, which is usually done through thinking about what will happen next, while in the moment of writing the next sentence. They don’t plot anything, it is safe to say that I will never be a plotter again. For me, and other panster writers, we depend on nothing, no direction except for the one our characters push us towards. Yes it sounds weird to her any writer say that their characters talk to them, but unless you are a writer you may never understand. It is true though, characters push a writer to tell their story and with a panster they also direct where their story goes. No outline, but that doesn’t mean there is no direction.

Then there are those writers who use both types of writing. You might ask, how can you be a plotter and a panster aren’t they contradictive of each other? Well, yes they are, but they can also work together to help a writer. A writer could sit down before writing and either outline, or use bullet points to write out what they want to happen that day and not worry if it goes off track. They could also visualize what they want to happen, or daydream about what the next scene is going to be about. All of these types of plotting can help the creative juices flow and get those first few paragraphs finished. But, these writers will not force their story onto one path, they will allow them to stray and take a different form as they write. Hence the panster part of writing. Sometimes they will skip the plotting part and write because they already know what they want in the scene, or they just don’t want to bother plotting that day.

No matter what type of writer you are, or the author of the books you love are, there is one thing that all writers have in common. They are creative, they visualize what they want their readers to see from their stories. And, they would love to have you acknowledge when you enjoy their work they took, sometimes ten years, a long time to finish. So, my one request to all readers, write a review when you are finished a book, it is a thank you to the author and acknowledgement to other readers that the book is a great choice to pick for their next read.

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