Gardner or Architect?

[ShelbyDawn57]

Saw an interview with George R. R. Martin the other day where he described two writing styles, his, the gardener, is organic letting the story and characters grow and evolve where they want to go. He contrasted that with The Architect, someone that plans every scene and nuance.

Me, I'm definately a gardener. I come u with an idea, more accurately, an idea finds me, and I just write, letting my characters grow and evolve and teh story lead me where it will. Sometimes it works, sometimes I end up with thousands of words that don't lead anywhere. For me it works.

I'm interested to hear how you describe yourself on this continuum. I mean that's what it is. Even I plan some things out, but my general MO is to let the story lead me, let the characters talk through me.

So, Architect or Gardener?

 

[Priscilla_June]

Saw an interview with George R. R. Martin the other day where he described two writing styles, his, the gardener, is organic letting the story and characters grow and evolve where they want to go. He contrasted that with The Architect, someone that plans every scene and nuance.

Me, I'm definately a gardener. I come u with an idea, more accurately, an idea finds me, and I just write, letting my characters grow and evolve and teh story lead me where it will. Sometimes it works, sometimes I end up with thousands of words that don't lead anywhere. For me it works.

I'm interested to hear how you describe yourself on this continuum. I mean that's what it is. Even I plan some things out, but my general MO is to let the story lead me, let the characters talk through me.

So, Architect or Gardener?

Hmmmm this explains why he hasn’t finished those last two books.

For me, I think its a little column A, little column B. I in my daydreaming come up with plot points in my head that I want to write. Be it they are events or actions or scenes that I think would be cute or cool. Beyond that it is a bit more gardening with how a character may react to such a situation, and going from there.

 

[Bamagan]

Serious answer? A mix. A greenhouse run by an absent-minded horticulturist who doesn't mind plants crowding the aisles.
Joke answer? I thought I detected a strong scent of manure in GRRM's fairy tales.

 

[Devinter]

I start with a base idea and imagine where I want it to go, but then it's full on Gif Related mode, and things often don't end up as I had originally intended. But that's part of the beauty of it, in my opinion.

 

[StillStunned]

And now we have a face to put to @Devinter!

 

[AchtungNight]

I’m an architect, I try to sculpt my stories to a certain extent. I do let them grow as they will sometimes however. The FMC of my latest release is someone I intended to keep straight when I first created her. But then the muse behind her was like “I’m surrounded by a lot of hot bisexual girlfriends! Why can’t I indulge myself with them?” I decided a reluctant bisexual might be an interesting new spin. I’m not above going with the flow.

I still do try to be an architect however. Hope the structures stand up well and I’m never accused of being a vandal instead.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Saw an interview with George R. R. Martin the other day where he described two writing styles, his, the gardener, is organic letting the story and characters grow and evolve where they want to go. He contrasted that with The Architect, someone that plans every scene and nuance.

Me, I'm definately a gardener. I come u with an idea, more accurately, an idea finds me, and I just write, letting my characters grow and evolve and teh story lead me where it will. Sometimes it works, sometimes I end up with thousands of words that don't lead anywhere. For me it works.

I'm interested to hear how you describe yourself on this continuum. I mean that's what it is. Even I plan some things out, but my general MO is to let the story lead me, let the characters talk through me.

So, Architect or Gardener?

Both. It depends on the story.

But, I seldom go into architect mode at first. Example:

I started writing a simple story just recently. Guy nearly runs over a drunk woman dressed as a “sexy cop”. Thing is, he is actually a cop. Plan A was she sobers up and fun sexy times. But… she passes out and - when he’s trying to find her driving license so he can get her home, turns out she’s a U.S. Marshall.

So. I now stop and realize this isn’t a 3k stroker but at least a 20k piece. Now I need to be an architect. Which I haven’t done as yet as I got distracted by another story idea.

Em

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Both. It depends on the story.

But, I seldom go into architect mode at first. Example:

I started writing a simple story just recently. Guy nearly runs over a drunk woman dressed as a “sexy cop”. Thing is, he is actually a cop. Plan A was she sobers up and fun sexy times. But… she passes out and - when he’s trying to find her driving license so he can get her home, turns out she’s a U.S. Marshall.

So. I now stop and realize this isn’t a 3k stroker but at least a 20k piece. Now I need to be an architect. Which I haven’t done as yet as I got distracted by another story idea.

Em

No idea what you could mean by this. I mean it's not like I have over four dozen stories in my 'work in progress' folder ranging from a 120 word snippet to ... Hey, did you see that squirrel???

 

[EmilyMiller]

No idea what you could mean by this. I mean it's not like I have over four dozen stories in my 'work in progress' folder ranging from a 120 word snippet to ... Hey, did you see that squirrel???

I visited somewhere with my bf’s family over the holidays and an idea came to me. 2,500 words into it.

Em

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I visited somewhere with my bf’s family over the holidays and an idea came to me. 2,500 words into it.

Em

You go girl. Can't wait to read it.

 

[SimonDoom]

I imagine most of us are a mix, but I'm more of an architect than a gardener. I plot and structure the story in my mind, and it almost always ends up where I planned for it to end up all along.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I imagine most of us are a mix, but I'm more of an architect than a gardener. I plot and structure the story in my mind, and it almost always ends up where I planned for it to end up all along.

Interesting point. I find I do that with my shorter works, but my longer ones, hell, sometimes I don't have a clue where I'm going until I get there.

 

[TxRad]

I usually just throw a couple of characters out on the table and see where they go. My role is to keep them from falling off the table.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I guess I would be a landscape architect.

By story-boarding from the conception of an idea, I build the framework that allows for flexibility as the story grows.

 

[SyleusSnow]

I architect, then garden.

But not being qualified to do either, the architecture is akin to playing with tinker toys and the gardening about as sophisticated as growing a chia pet.

 

[KeithD]

Gardener in writing fiction. Architect in writing nonfiction and in most other aspects of my life. I probably write fiction for the gardener relief from being an architect in most activities.

 

[MrPixel]

Gardener. Planting the seed, watering as needed, and enjoying watching it grow and hopefully blossom.

My current attempt at story architecture is mostly a fail - much difficulty in having drawn the finished appearance, and formed most of the framework and rough mechanicals, but drywall and finish carpentry are not my fortes.

 

[Devinter]

And now we have a face to put to @Devinter!

Snapped a picture, put it into one of those Anime-My-Face websites, and got this in return. No idea why it wants my hair to be blue, though. Maybe because in the photo there was a snowy background and the sun reflected off of it. (I did the prompt three times and got blue hair each time!)

Anyways, enough derailing.

Gardener in writing fiction. Architect in writing nonfiction and in most other aspects of my life. I probably write fiction for the gardener relief from being an architect in most activities.

Extremely relatable. I organize my life down to minute details normally. Writing and lovemaking are the two areas where I can escape that confinement.

 

[Voboy]

I'm comfortable with a small amount of architecture. A VERY small amount, like a single-sentence summary of where I expect a story to go.

Other than that, I'm all gardener.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I'm more of the Architect type, I guess.
There is a certain approach that Brandon Sanderson described as the way he approaches writing. I find my own approach somewhat similar, although I suppose it is mostly an approach that works for novel-sized stories.
What he said was that he basically creates major plot and character events first. Those are the things he wants to happen in the story and he works them out in detail. After that, he starts figuring out how to take the story from Event A to Event B, so that those two events make sense in the way of character growth, plot, and worldbuilding, figuring out all the minor events on the way. This is just the rough idea as he presented it, but I guess you get the point. I think this approach worked very well for my fantasy series.

In my other series, (the one that is still not reuploaded) I was just as much of a gardener as an architect. Maybe it depends on the type and size of the story as well?

 

[yowser]

This is an interesting question, which pops up with some regularity here. You might find a couple earlier threads, Story planning and Question for authors: How do you usually go about writing a story? informative.

 

[Voboy]

Here's how I know I'm a gardener:

VERY frequently, I'll wake up with a thought about where a story wants to go, or it'll hit me while I'm using the gym, or I'll go for a hike and by the time I've finished I've got an idea I want to incorporate into my WIP. So I'll sit down and write a passage to go with that thought or idea. And more often than not, that's how my stories move from one moment to the next.

There's almost never an overarching framework or scaffold when I start. Usually, by about halfway through, I'll get a spark that'll tell me how the piece should end, and from then on I'll work toward it. But I'll still do so in a serpentine, organic way.

 

[MelissaBaby]

My preferred metaphor is that I am a traveller. I set out from an established location toward a predetermined destination. I have an overall idea of the route I will take, but I am open to the possibility of unscheduled detours along the way.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

My preferred metaphor is that I am a traveller. I set out from an established location toward a predetermined destination. I have an overall idea of the route I will take, but I am open to the possibility of unscheduled detours along the way.

Ah, so you get lost in your stories, too.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Ah, so you get lost in your stories, too.

All who wander are not lost.