Pantsers and Plotters Which Are You (And Why It Matters)

Pantsers and Plotters Which Are You (And Why It Matters) Two Types of Writers: Plotters and Pantsers Writing has always been a passion for the UK-based former journalist Amanda Wills, who now works part-time as a police press officer. Her latest book, Flick Henderson and the Deadly Game, was published in December last year, with a cover design courtesy of Reedsy artist Rachel Lawston. In this article, she talks about two types of writers, Plotters and Pantsers, and the pros and cons of both. Plotter or PantserDo you plan your novel to the nth degree before you type a single word, or do you sit at your computer, take a deep breath and fly by the seat of your pants? If the former, you’re a Plotter; if the latter, you’re a Pantser. Plotters plan novels to the nth degree. Pantsers fly by the seat of their pants and just write. We all know there are pros and cons to both. Knowing exactly what’s coming next means that Plotters are less likely to suffer from writer’s block. They also tend to write faster and more efficiently. Pantsers, on the other hand, have the freedom to let their characters take control, which can be both terrifying and exciting at the same time.I should say now that I am your typical Pantser. Don’t get me wrong, I am in awe of writers who spend months plotting scenes on timelines and building detailed biographies for their characters. When I start a book, I know how it begins, and I normally know how it’s going to end. It’s just the bit in the middle that’s, shall we say, fluid. I then spent about a week playing a kind of story jigsaw, rearranging the scenes until Kate’s disappearance became the main plot and the disappearing pets became the sub-plot.This kind of low-tech approach might not be for everyone, but it worked for me. It helped me spot continuity problems and holes in the story. It became blindingly obvious where I needed more action, and where I needed to slow the pace down.And once I had the scenes in the right order it was a pretty straightforward task to reassemble them on my Word document.Flick Henderson and the Deadly Game was released both as a paperback and ebook this past December, nearly three years after I had that first seed of an idea.Do I regret not plotting the book properly in the first place? Probably. I’m sure it would have saved a lot of time. I’ll definitely use the giant word jigsaw approach again. Being able to play with scenes in such a tangible way was immensely useful.Will I spend weeks planning every scene, every plot point, every nuance, every character arc, before I start writing my next book? Probably not. I’m a Pantser by nature. But one thing I have learned is that a little planning goes a long way.So that is exactly what I plan to do. As a writer, I'm a Pantser. But I've learned that a little planning takes  your book  a long way. Flick Henderson and the Deadly Game is available on Amazon in paperback and on Amazon Kindle!Are you a Plotter or a Pantser? Or, like Amanda, have you found a way to straddle both styles of writing? Let us know, and leave any thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Amanda in the comments below.