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3/25/2010

Growing The Seeds...

I'm a pantser, not a plotter. So much so that when my CP Tara heard me comment on some writing software that looked intriguing to me, she wondered where the real Cari had gone. I don't fill out character sheets. I don't do notecards. Rarely do I even take notes. Something about actually writing information down in a semblance of the fashion I intend to use it in...well, it makes the muse run screaming. I'm okay with compiling research links and webpages, but anything that shouts school doesn't work for me. I wish it did. I have several UF ideas to plot and someday I'd love to write a historical. But until I get over my plot-o-phobia, those books are going to be hard for me to write. I will, someday. I like to meet challenges. But I'm not there yet.

In the meantime, I think. And think some more. I always claimed I didn't plot, just sat down at the computer and wrote whatever came to me. Not so. Lately I've been stalling on some projects I'm excited to write and I finally realized that's because I hadn't thought them out long enough. I had some pieces of the puzzle, but not enough of them. When I finally realized what was missing, the words started pouring out of me.

Which are you? Plotter? Pantser? Hybrid? Or do you think reading is all the joy you need?

14 comments:

Kaye Manro said...

Oh Cari how cool you are! You plot, but in your head it seems. I do a bit of both p and p so I guess I'm a Hybrid. But I'm a planner. So sometimes my muse runs away screaming wildly!

Shelley Munro said...

I used to be a total panster, but gradually I've moved toward a hybrid. Like you, I have times when I stall. I go for a bike ride and usually know what to do by the time I get back home. A walk does the trick too.

Unknown said...

With me... I just open a blank page on the word program and I start with... okay... I want to write about this guy and this woman... and I'm off. LOL. I did have to plot out the last book I wrote... before I wrote it. I never thought I could write the synopsis first - plot the book that way... but it worked. It was actually... kind of cool. LOL. So the 'seat of my pants' person might just become a plotter. LOL. Great post!

Taryn Elliott said...

LOL yes, I do get horrified when you start talking about plot. LOL Then it usually means you'll have a HALT in writing. LOL

And I'm a hybrid. ;) If I plot TOO much then I get bored, and never get around to finishing a story.

Jamie D. said...

I'm a hybrid too...I keep trying to move myself more to the plotting side, but it's slow going. I've been doing scene outlines - one sentence per scene, as many scenes as I can think of before I start...and then just start writing. That seems to work pretty well, I just modify the outline (such as it is) as I go. I tried notecards, etc - not for me. Too much "busy work", not enough actual writing. ;-) I do write a general synopsis before I start.

I use the free yWriter program to write in - have you looked at that? Very organized, even if you're just pantsing it...

Shawna Thomas said...

Hi Cari,

I used to be a complete pantser, but I've morphed into a hybrid. I'm like you, most of it is in my head. I close my eyes and think about the characters, sometimes writing down scenes. I need the beginning, middle and end before I actually start writing.

When I've filled out excels, worksheets and notecards, etc, I feel like that was the story...and I never get around to writing.

I'm currently stalled on an awesome UF because I'm not sure if the middle is strong enough yet and I need to brainstorm more.

Good luck on your daydreaming. : )

Lynne

Helen Hardt said...

The horror! I think I have to say I'm a hybrid now. I used to cringe at plotting, but now I find I need a skeletal frame sometimes. The words don't flow as well as they used to -- probably because I know what I'm doing now, lol. So put me down as a hybrid :).

J.A. Saare / Aline Hunter said...

I was once a pure pantser but now I've become more of hybrid. I get ideas and jot them down. ;)

April Vine said...

Hey Cari

Kaye could not have said it better! I plot but in my head : )Thanks, Kaye!

Sarah Simas said...

I've become a bit of a hybrid. My first attempt at writing, I plotted everything down to the X-degree! Sheesh! It was too much. Then, I tried winging it and got totally lost. lol

So, I've come to realize I'm a bit of both. I guess I'm kind of a mutant! *wink wink*

Jackie Ashenden said...

Yup, like everyone else, I have become a hybrid. Used to be a complete pantser but that doesn't really work well with short category romance. Gotta know where you're going right from the start.
Still, these days I start with the conflict and a few ideas about where I want the story to go and let the characters take it from there. It's been working so far... :-)

Christina Phillips said...

I'm more of a panster now than I used to be, but before I can start writing I have to know the major reveal/action/turning-point towards the end of the book, so I know where I'm heading. I don't know quite how I'm going to get there, but at least I have that light at the end of the tunnel!!!

Crystal Posey said...

Pantser for the most part but I realized too that I wasn't spending enough time thinking. I watched an interview with Nora Roberts where she said, "You have to be willing to spend a lot of time with these character." Once I slow my mind down and zero in on a character and simply think about them, alot... it starts pouring.

Unknown said...

I'm a total pantser. My muse hides if I try to plot. :)