Neither a Pantser nor a Plotter Be

        Most writers do not enjoy complying with rules. We are artists and regulations constrain us. We are free souls who want nothing but to create. When stifled we rebel. Most of us comply with minimum rules of grammar and structure, not out of choice but out of necessity. Not too many readers enjoy facing persistent spelling errors or blatant errors of style.

As writers, how do we build our tales and spin our yarns?  The most creative writers, as they will tell you, are the Pantsers. The Pantser writes with magic. He looks through the wall of Writers Block, and with magic driving him, pure blinding creativity flows into his hands, and beautiful words flow like spray from a waterfall. Most of them are happiest with pen and paper, or typewriter, and will not approach a computer until composing the final draft.

    At the other extreme are the plotters. They have produced copious notes, using Evernote and pencil and scratchpad. Scenes are built from notes into almost perfect paragraphs. Characters, certainly the major ones, are spelled out in meticulous detail. By the time the plotter sits to begin the actual writing, most of the book is written and never, ever is there a flaw in the plot. The detail of the text is beautiful in its simplicity but is built from the meticulous notes that are the skeleton of the story.    

Good writers are neither plotters nor pantsers but are hybrids depending on what they are writing. I have heard some novelists say they are pantsers, but I don’t believe it. You cannot write a really cohesive novel without some kind of outline. It will fall apart or be devoured by its own complexity.    

If you are writing a piece of flash fiction why would you bother with an in-depth development cycle? If you are writing a novel, novella, or a long short story, you will merge both tools and develop a well-constructed work devoid of plot holes. Your hero will have the same hair color from start to end. More importantly, the knife scar that began on his left cheek will not have migrated to the opposite side at the conclusion of chapter seven. 

    For an example of flash fiction using the pantser method, see “The Tell-Tale Canary” in the pages section of this blog. 

An example using both methods is“Sirens Song” also in the pages section. The two primary characters Martin and his Muse were crafted using an outline. The story grew by writing around the character descriptions.
All stories in the pages section are written by me.
Your comments are most welcome.