Plotters v Pantsers: pick a side!

[Rob_Royale]

Pantser.

All right then. Thanks.

 

[anthrodisiac]

All right then. Thanks.

Welcome to the dark fun side!

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I. Introduction
- Thesis statement: plotters rule; pantsers drool
- Killer hook: "Webster's dictionary defines plot as..."

A. History
- Origins of debate outside AH
- Review of related AH threads

B. Etymology
- Linguistic deep dive
- Alternative terms (e.g., architects vs. gardeners)

C. Famous Proponents
- 25 examples of each

II. Ooh... what about an enemies-to-lovers story about a plotter and a pantser?
- Maybe the plotter's family was killed by a roving band of pantsers when he was a child
- And now the only thing he's plotting is revenge!
- Until he meets a tailor named Manuel
- This is gold. Start writing immediately.

 

[ADirtyPerv]

II. Ooh... what about an enemies-to-lovers story about a plotter and a pantser?

My point is proven. This is an excellent example of plotting by the seat of your pants. This is just pantsing with a condom.

Also, I love this idea. Please keep us updated if you do write this.

 

[designatedvictim]

In direct contravention of the 'No Fence Sitters' diktat...

I'd have to say that I'm a tactical pantser, but a strategic plotter.

Although, that could probably apply to anyone's writing style.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Plotting is basically pantsing.

 

[PennyThompson]

I try to be a plotter, I really do! I let story ideas rattle around in my brain for a while, I think about plot arcs, and emotional themes, and twists and complications...

But it just doesn't ever work out for me. I reach a point where I realize that I don't know what's going to happen next, or what is going to connect A to B, it doesn't matter if I just let it percolate or if I try to write an outline.

It's like a gelatin that won't set, until I sit down and start writing. And then half the time the plots that I had in mind don't come out the way I expected, by writing I often discover that the characters want to do something different.

It kind of makes me mad, because I'm a fairly strict materialist and I don't believe in woo... But sometimes it feels like woo.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I try to be a plotter, I really do! I let story ideas rattle around in my brain for a while, I think about plot arcs, and emotional themes, and twists and complications...

But it just doesn't ever work out for me. I reach a point where I realize that I don't know what's going to happen next, or what is going to connect A to B, it doesn't matter if I just let it percolate or if I try to write an outline.

It's like a gelatin that won't set, until I sit down and start writing. And then half the time the plots that I had in mind don't come out the way I expected, by writing I often discover that the characters want to do something different.

It kind of makes me mad, because I'm a fairly strict materialist and I don't believe in woo... But sometimes it feels like woo.

Like a train, sometimes pantsing is very woo-woo!

 

[NuclearFairy]

Like a train, sometimes pantsing is very woo-woo!

Or like Ducktails, which completely lack pants. =P

 

[TheRedChamber]

To quote Lisa Simpson - who would definitely be a plotter if she wrote - "I made a table. I make a lot of tables."

Pantser - 13

StillStunned
Sijopunk (commando panster)
BobbyBrandt
Anthodisiac
ADirtyPerv
BeechLeaf
CrookedLetter
_Lynn_
Ezoretta
ElectricBlue
Rob_Royale (by my reading)
PennyThompson

Plotter - 4

THBGato
SmilingLez
dirk2024
TheRedChamber

Fence Sitters and Jokers - 4

Emily Miller
NuclearFairy
ThatNewGuy
designatedvictim
M_K_Babalon

It's not too crowded where I am, but the company is good.

(Let me know if I've miscategorized or missed anyone)

 

[anthrodisiac]

To quote Lisa Simpson - who would definitely be a plotter if she wrote - "I made a table. I make a lot of tables."

Pantser - 13

StillStunned
Sijopunk (commando panster)
BobbyBrandt
Anthodisiac
ADirtyPerv
BeechLeaf
CrookedLetter
_Lynn_
Ezoretta
ElectricBlue
Rob_Royale (by my reading)
M_K_Babalon
PennyThompson

Plotter - 3

THBGato
SmilingLez
dirk2024
TheRedChamber

Fence Sitters and Jokers - 4

Emily Miller
NuclearFairy
ThatNewGuy
designatedvictim

It's not too crowded where I am, but the company is good.

(Let me know if I've miscategorized or missed anyone)

I think you mean 4 plotters, no?

 

[TheRedChamber]

@anthrodisiac Darn yes, added myself at the last minute.

 

[EmilyMiller]

In direct contravention of the 'No Fence Sitters' diktat...

I'd have to say that I'm a tactical pantser, but a strategic plotter.

Although, that could probably apply to anyone's writing style.

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/plotters-v-pantsers-pick-a-side.1652409/post-102606462

 

[dirk2024]

Plotting is basically pantsing.

 

[AStrangeDesire]

I write detailed outlines and then abandon them almost immediately.

I'm a pantser that goes commando.

^ this!

I just double checked what I wrote in my latest story against the detailed outline. They are definitely NOT the same

 

[PapaRomantic]

Pantser here, though I do try to have the basic beginning and ending plotted before I write. But not always...not even often...

 

[Erozetta]

I literally just sit down and start writing whatever first comes to mind and often don't know anything further ahead than the current word I'm typing.

Seeing what happens next is the appeal for me.

When I plot, the story is done alongside the plan and I lose interest in filling in the gaps.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I literally just sit down and start writing whatever first comes to mind and often don't know anything further ahead than the current word I'm typing.

Seeing what happens next is the appeal for me.

When I plot, the story is done alongside the plan and I lose interest in filling in the gaps.

When you plot, you know the outcome, which for me defeats the purpose of writing, which is the discovery.

The collation above surprises me a bit, to be honest. From prior threads over the years, I'd have thought being a pantser was the exception rather than the rule.

Now I'm beginning to imagine the plotters getting all angsty. "Fuck, have those writing bloggers been wrong, all along?"

 

[dirk2024]

I think I'm actually a combo of the two.

I create my characters, a summary, and three or four major plot points. Somewhere in there, I come up with an ending, which may or may not change.

But then I start pantsing, trying to make the story arrive at the end I wanted.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I think I'm actually a combo of the two.

I create my characters, a summary, and three or four major plot points. Somewhere in there, I come up with an ending, which may or may not change.

But then I start pantsing, trying to make the story arrive at the end I wanted.

That's pretty similar to me, but in my mind that's straight-up pantsing. Not full chaos pantsing, mind you, but I wouldn't call that a combo.

I hereby dub thee a fully fledged member of Team

 

[ItsJustMeApathy]

Pantser. I'll have a random idea and then 20K words later I think, this might be going somewhere.

 

[Statius]

Chaos panster

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I'm mostly a plotter, in the sense that usually, before I start writing:

- I know how the story will end
- I know the premise
- I know many of the beat and set pieces

To answer the question seriously, I'm a plotter in the way @THBGato describes above.

That said, the beats, set pieces, and ending can (and usually do) change along the way as the characters take shape.

Having something to write toward motivates me to start. Discovering and exploring unexpected detours along the way motivates me to keep going.

 

[Bamagan]

 

[Belegon]

I sit down and GO! One of the things I found the hardest about finishing a novel was that the very act of needing to bring everything together for a conclusion REQUIRED me to act like a "plotter" for a little bit...