Plotter or Pantser? Why you need to be both!
Ah, the good old plotter vs pantser discussion! It's likely you already know what I mean by these terms, but for extra clarification, here are my definitions.
PLOTTER: A writer that plots out their novel in depth before starting to write it. They don't like to begin a writing project until they have characters, plot and setting fleshed out well and find the idea of launching into a project absurd.
PANTSER: A writer that gets a vague idea for plot, character or setting and imminently launches into writing. They fly by the seat of their pants, figuring out the details as they go. The idea of stopping to plot out where the novel is going baffles them, how do you know where it's going until you write it and get there?
Now, if you'd have asked me about a year a so ago which type of writer I was I would have most definitely said a pantser. Every novel I have ever finished has been a last-minute idea written in the flurry of a NaNoWriMo rush. I get an idea and I roll with it.
Or at least I used to.
I started my Creative Writing Degree convinced that pantsing was just my style. It was what I did and what I would always do. I just wasn't the planning kind of person when it came to writing. Writing was my passion. You can't plan your passions!
Boy was I wrong.
Plotting
Plotting is a requirement for a good novel. Gasp! Shock horror! I know all my fellow pantsers out there are reeling. But hear me out.
It is completely fine to pants the first draft. That, I will always do. But you'll realise quickly that if you want to get to the end of a novel and have it make some sort of coherent sense, you must do some planning.
You can plot half way through. You can stop and plot a few chapters ahead, write them, and then plot some more. You can draft the whole thing, realise it's all over the shop, and then plot out your second draft. But you must plot.
Plotting is what takes some words on a page and makes it a coherent narrative. Plotting brings together the mash of frantic passionate ideas you had and makes it whole. Plotting is important.
And I hate it.
I hate plotting so much. I'm not good at it. I figure things out as I go. And that's why I'll always be the person that only does the plotting in the second draft. That's why I don't count my first draft. It's a zero draft. I barely ever finish it. It's trash. It's unplanned and gloriously free.
The second draft is where the real work begins.
Pantsing
Now you may be thinking, ok, ok, I'll become a plotter then. But that's not really what I'm saying either. For a start, we all have our natural tendency to lean one way or another. We all have different creative processes and we all have natural preferences. Secondly. what about the benefits of being a pantser?
Pantsers are passionate and imaginative. They fly off with an idea and go for it. They're gutsy and usually faster writers. They're full of curiosity and drive.
Why wouldn't we want that?
As writers we need to be both plotters and pantsers. There really is no way around it I'm afraid. Too much of a plotter and you get stuck on the details. You have a million hang ups and the novel is never quite right. Too much of a pantser and you completely lose track of where you're going. The plotline will be all over the place, if not non-existent. You'll leave readers confused and frustrated. Or worse, you'll never get the book done.
We need to be plantsers.
Plantsers
Completely willing to let our inspiration and passion guide us. Able to fall in love with our ideas and maintain that shiny new idea excitement. But we also need to be able to get from point A to B. Tell a linear story with themes and foreshadowing and a plot line that makes sense. Create an ending that feels whole and a beginning that creates a solid foundation.
If there's one thing I took away from my degree it's this: you can't write a good book unless you can do both.
And so that's why the answer to the question 'which is better, plotter or pantser?' is neither. Plantsing is where it's at.
