Comments on: Plotter or Pantser: Where Do You Stand?

By: The Pantser Resolution

The Pantser Resolution — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 15:47:20 +0000

[…] know, I thought of myself as a plotter and not a pantser when writing stories. After completing a number of manuscripts now, I realize that I’m more […]

By: Nontraditional Outline Techniques - DIY MFA : DIY MFA

Nontraditional Outline Techniques - DIY MFA : DIY MFA — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:15:21 +0000

[…] past week we’ve been talking about outlines. On Monday I asked the question: Plotter or Pantser? Where Do You Stand? That post got me thinking about my own writing […]

By: No-Tears Outlining by K. A. Laity | The Learning Center

No-Tears Outlining by K. A. Laity | The Learning Center — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 10:02:05 +0000

[…] is one of the best time savers around. If you tend to be a ‘pantser’ rather than a ‘plotter’ you may resist the outline as a collar on creativity. It’s not. It’s your map. If you […]

By: Dianna L. Gunn

Dianna L. Gunn — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:53:36 +0000

I’m a bit of a hybrid–I do a lot of world building and character building, but minimal plotting, before starting a project, and I do intense outlining for subsequent drafts.

I love your definitions of plotter and pantser, by the way.

By: The Red Angel

The Red Angel — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:36:39 +0000

I haven’t heard of a writing process like that before, but I like it! I am traditionally a pantser and like to see where the characters will take the story (they always bring up some very pleasant surprises), but this almost always leads me to some sort of “writing funk.” I get writer’s block and have no idea where to go from there. SO I am trying to be more of a plotter and at least map out a vague outline of pivotal scenes and events in the story (landmarks, if you will) from the beginning to the end so I won’t get lost as easily.

By: Untraditional Outline Techniques « DIY MFA

Untraditional Outline Techniques « DIY MFA — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:45:22 +0000

[…] past week we’ve been talking about outlines. On Monday I asked the question: Plotter or Pantser? Where Do You Stand? That post got me thinking about my own writing process. I’m usually not a seat-of-my-pants […]

By: Great Stuff from the Writing Blogs, May 15, 2012 « cochisewriters

Great Stuff from the Writing Blogs, May 15, 2012 « cochisewriters — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:15:57 +0000

[…] DIY MFA, Gabriela Pereira asks Plotter or Pantser: Where Do You Stand? In other words, do you plot out your novel first, or just start writing and see where the story […]

By: Ava Jae

Ava Jae — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:14:17 +0000

I think your process is really interesting, especially since I’ve occasionally done something similar. My process varies from WIP to WIP, but I usually pants the first few chapters with only a vague idea (sometimes no idea at all, depending) of what the story is about and where I’m going. Once I’ve established that I’m definitely going to pursue the WIP, I sketch out a brief outline that gives me landmarks, so to speak, to aim for and pants everything in between, so I suppose I’m a hybrid. 🙂

By: Gabriela

Gabriela — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:46:37 +0000

In reply to Gene Lempp. Gene--I am such a fan of the extracting-the-outline technique. I do it ALL the time. In fact (spoiler alert!), this might even be a prompt here at DIY MFA relatively soon.

By: Gabriela

Gabriela — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:44:41 +0000

In reply to Alison Strachan.

Alison, I love your idea of writing side stories about your characters to get to know them better. I did that too as I worked up the nerve to write my first novel manuscript. One thing to keep in mind about posting material on your blog: some publishers or literary magazines consider material that’s posted on a blog as being “already published” so you may run into glitches later on if you try to get those stories published elsewhere (since technically they have already been published).

That said, I myself am all about re-purposing characters, stories, even blog posts and reusing snippets here and there to make new things. Sure, it’s a bit more work than just doing a quick copy-paste because you have to adjust the piece to whatever new audience or format you’re adapting it to. (Example: If it’s a short story, you’ll want to adapt it before putting it out on a blog because people read blog posts differently than they approach short stories. You want to make sure your work is easy to read on whatever new format you choose. Of if you’re writing an article from a blog post, you can’t just copy that post word for word and submit it; you have to make it read like a cohesive piece.)

Hmmm… maybe I should do a weekly topic at DIY MFA all about this issue. Thanks for an awesome question!