If you are newer to the writing scene, you might have no idea with either of the words in the title of the posts actually mean. Or maybe you do know, but don’t know which one you are yet. That’s fine. Really.

For those still scratching their heads, a plotter is someone who likes to plot out their story ahead of time. Notes, outlines, character profiles, etc. A pantser has an idea and more or less just sits down in front of the keyboard and starts telling the story. They fly (or write) by the seat of their pants, hence “pantser”.

The first manuscript I ever wrote was a pantser project. I wrote one chapter per week and when I finished one chapter, I usually didn’t know what would happen in the next one. I finished the project, which was good. I proved to myself that I could finish an entire manuscript. It sounds like a small feat until you have to do it.

I didn’t sit down at the keyboard and decide to “pants” the project. I just didn’t know where to start, so I started writing. This works for a lot of people. I know some very talented writers who choose to write this way all the time. There is nothing wrong with it if it works for you. It…didn’t entirely work for me.

My next project, I plotted out a few things. I didn’t make a whole outline or character profiles, but I certainly had an idea of what would happen at the end of the story and all the major plot points that would lead there. A writing partner of mine calls working like that being a “plantser”. That project went better. It didn’t go perfectly, but it went better.

For my next project, I’m doing a lot of plotting. I have a lot of notes. I have character profiles. I have a road map to keep me from getting distracted from, well, the plot. I don’t know if this will improve my writing or decrease the time it takes for me to finish the first draft. Only time will tell. But I want to try it because I’m still trying to figure out what works for me as a writer. I’m experimenting with my process until I find my groove.

Let me know which one you are in the comments!