Greetings and salutations. It is I, Graham.

Pantser vs plotter. Pantser or plotter. It seems like the only time you can get away from the question of “Are you a pantser or a plotter?” is when George RR Martin decided for some crazy reason to ask whether someone was an architect or a gardener. Well either way, I am here to tell you, “I’m not.”

I’m not a pantser or a plotter, at least not purely. I don’t write down an outline for the scene I am writing. But I do stop and mentally work out a map of what I am about to write in the micro-scene consisting of the next conversation or action sequence. I may not write it down, but I do have an idea of what I want to have occur in the scene I am writing. And I love, love, LOVE all of the notes and bullet points that Clevenger helps to provide prior to writing a scene. So in a way, I am almost a plotter.

However, when I sit down to actually write the scene, sure I might occasionally remind myself about points the scene needs to include, but in my heart of hearts, I “pants” the blazes out of that scene. Surprise locations, unsuspected NPCs, and entire unknown festivals just pop up out of nowhere, simply because I was mid paragraph and my subconscious decided on a new direction that made me go, “Huh, what if…”. And the attitudes that come out of nowhere with my mains. Xerian was originally supposed to be a slightly manipulative protector who turned into an abusive bully. Thorn was a prickly SJW who turned into a feisty, cocky mother hen. And the sheer anger that came out of her in certain scenes. She has now pulled a blade on both MCs.

The point is, I am straight down the middle of the road on this one. I have tried writing purely as a pantser. That’s what I have alluded to in prior blog posts. It was always a disaster that fell apart within a few thousand words. And yet, I’ve also tried Clevenger’s approach of micro-managing the writing of a scene like he just discussed, and my creative process chafes at the restraint. The same structure that supports Clevenger, ties me down.

I don’t mind though. Thankfully we as writers don’t have to follow one exact path to writing a novel. We can experiment, and find what works for us, independently. Clevenger and I have a system now. I can pants the hell out of a scene, but I couldn’t even get to the scene without the plotting that Clevenger is able to provide. At the same time, even Clevenger will admit that there are many times that some wild, hair-brained idea that my pantsing approach provides will spark some idea in him. Just yesterday he texted me with:

“So your scene gave me inspiration for 2 more scenes that I think will be good. So I penciled them into the drafts.”

So which one is it? Am I a pantser or a plotter? I plot the overall vague structure. But I make it out of balsa wood and tissue paper, so that the second a main character wants to throw a temper tantrum, I can give them the freedom to tear the scenery apart and see where they go. I pants my way through all the “what if”s of creating the book’s main story, but will have the patience to help Clevenger plot the details of the necessary scenes, and how they can fit together.

So which am I? I’m not.

Don’t forget to love one another,

Graham