Patricia Johns

This is a question writers ask each other a lot. “Are you a plotter or a pantster?” A plotter is someone who plots out everything that will happen before they start writing. A pantster writes by the seat of their pants. Most authors land somewhere in the middle, honestly.

I am about 80% plotter. Now, most writers I know are not. They are definite pantsters, and they find plotting to be tedious and to take the fun out of the process for them. Now, I sympathize! Writing needs to be enjoyable. It’s too difficult of a job to do without the payoff of loving your work. There are far easier ways to make a living that would provide vacation time and stat holidays. But for me, I’m a plotter. Unlike all my writer pals. But I have a few good reasons why this works for me:

1. It’s fun for me. Like I said, that’s important!
   
2. I know where the story is going, so when I’m writing that first draft, I can have a stronger version of the story to start editing.
   
3. I can hammer out potential bugs in the story with my editors before I start writing–big time saver!
   
4. I can layer in clues and hints in the story while I’m galavanting through the first draft because I know where we’re headed. That makes for a satisfying read when every detail in the book ends up being important somehow.

Once I know how the story is going to unfold, my creativity can really flow while I create characters, backstory, and let their relationships grow and develop. It’s a trellis to guide the living, breathing, writing of the story.

Also, you can plot in pencil! By that I mean that you can plot out your story, and if you change your mind about things while you’re writing, you can adjust your plan and carry on.

But it works for me!

What about you? How do you write? What works for you?

Happy reading and writing!

❤