In a recent blog review, Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers scored a 9 out of a possible ten.
Comments: Good blog, solid advice (even if I don’t agree with it all) – a useful resource for any writer.
When I asked the reviewer what he didn’t agree with, he replied: “I just tend to avoid plotting. For me, personally, it seems to take some of the life out of the story. I write rough, let the story appear, and then polish it out the way it asks.”
Plotters versus pantsers (“writing by the seat of your pants”).
Is plot something you do — a verb? Or, is plot an intergral part of a story, like dialog and authentic details — a noun?
Pantsers work the story out on the page.
Plotters outline first and then write.
Either method, it seems to me, benefits from a firm understanding of the universal story form. And, the universal story form is directly related to plot. Therefore…….
Oh, well, the battle continues. I’ve received comments like this since I first started teaching and writing and obsessing about plot. Neither way is right or wrong.
Whatever it takes to get writers to put words on a page. That, to me, is all that counts.
P.S. For anyone who is interested in a “pantser” turned “plotter”, please read my interview with Jana McBurney-Lin, author of My Half of the Sky at http://www.blockbusterplots.com/tips.html. Enjoy…….
I’m a plotter. No doubt about it. That’s why I check your blog all the time and eagerly anticipate your monthly Zine.
Tanks.
You’re right of Course, there is no right or wrong way to do it, seat of the pants all the way for me, (and maybe a little plotting in the back of my head)
I guess it depends on the context. For posting on the blog, when I have the subject in mind I am happy to let the thoughts develop as I write – but that is very small scale.
For bigger writing projects (non-fiction, but often inventive) I have always needed to put in a structure to write around. I guess that would be the equivalent to plotting fiction.
The line between fiction and invention is an interesting one – thinking about poetry… and what arguments for structure / plotting there.
Anyway, for me the ideas for fiction have never reached the page – but your great blog may inspire something!
I used to be a more of pantser. I now do an outline summary. That keeps me more focused. If I get stuck, the outline usually puts me back on track. I do though enjoy just going with the buzz of a concept. However, I have do more revisions that way.
Never even thought about the fact taht there might be two different ways into a story. Interesting. Thanks
Hi, Martha. I pants the first 35 pages or so, then get into the story and the characters. I sit down and plot in outline form from chapter to chapter. there’s no way I could write a cohesive 96,000 plus word book without some plotting. I wrote DARK RIDER that way, and SHADOW RIDER. Even then, I have to do two to three layers of revisions to close up plot holes.
Of course, the plot line never follows my oringal outline–but that’s part of the fun!
Thank you all for your comments.
Will Pow, I am especially intrigued by one of your comments — the line between fiction and invention……
I really like that and know I’ll have lots of fun mulling it over.
Thanks again.
I think I read in Stephen King’s “On Writing” that he starts with a character in an interesting dilemma and then follows wherever he or she goes.
I think people like this tend to understand storytelling at a deeper and more subconscious level. They do certain things, like developing characters and creating tension — things most of us have to study and practice — without thinking too much about the process they follow.
While an enviable gift, such writers often can’t communicate their method. But they do demonstrate a basic underlying truth, that every writer should follow the method that speaks to him or her.
I do both. I actually do everything I can to get the story out.
Martha – I think I’m a fragmenter, that is I tend to write in fragments and link them together to create a great story BUT having said that, writing a novel is VERY DIFFERENT and as I told you, before Nano I carefully read your book again and took notes, bought a piece of posterboard and went to work on things like The Journey, the Names of the characters, what they looked like, what the conflict was, all those kinds of things. It really made the writing more fun. because I’d thought through some of the things you outline in your book.
To the naysayers I would say, we all bring different styles to the writing table, so pick and choose what you need from Blockbuster Plots and what’s helpful to your story. I work with your book right there below me on the floor.
As an aside, Martha, several members of one of the bookservs I belong to were complaining about losing steam on their novels after Nano and I suggested a few things, to include buying Blockbuster Plots, so hopefully you’ll see some sales from that.
Happy writing, Martha.
I’m definitely a pantser. I rarely even make notes. That said, I do recognize the benefit of having an outline. I just can’t do it. I can write the outline, but then some crazy part of my brain insists that if it’s been written out, it’s carved in stone. So if the story needs to change, I get completely bogged down, because I must write to the outline. It almost killed my novel. Won’t do that ever again!
Every writer has his/her own system. I don’t think any of us truly understand it. 🙂
For me, plot, plot, plot. I spent too many years “pantsing,” and not really getting anywhere. Martha, when you talk about a structure for the muse to come to, you hit the nail right on the head!
I still struggle with the balance. I basically plot till I can’t stand doing some writing. Then I write for a while, until I realize I really should have plotted more, and I go back for that. And so on!
You’re right. I’m a pantser turned plotter….sort of. I still do a lot of writing, just writing, to see where it leads. More than taking the life out of the story, I think plotting is daunting. What if I don’t know what happens after the exciting introduction? What if I don’t know how it ends?
To be faced with the not knowing can be so off-putting that I return to cleaning the grout in the bathroom. So, while I do NOW pay attention to plot and character ARC etc, I’m still a pantser.
This blog is a 10!
Hugs, JJ
I’ve discovered that my plotter brain works better for my nonfiction pieces, whereas my pantser brain is more suited for my fiction. However, the plotter is starting to knock on the door of the fiction writing…
Thanks for such good stuff, Martha. If you’re interested, I blogged about you (again :)). Stop by and say hi!