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Plotter Pantser and Planters: Which one are you?

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Are you a plotter or a pantser? In case these terms are new to you, let me list the definitions.

A plotter is someone who plans their novel before they write it. Outlining their novel before writing is extremely important to these writers.

The term pantser describes someone who “flies by the seat of their pants,” meaning they don’t plan out anything in their story, or plan very little.

At a conference years ago, I was sitting near one of my writer friends, Theresa. When the presenter asked if anyone in the audience would consider themselves a pantser, she immediately raised her hand and pointed to me.

I was not familiar with the term, but she was insistent that it was me.

Reading more into this new term, I agreed she was correct; that is how I wrote at the time.

At that point, I was not familiar with the term, but she was insistent that it was me.

Reading more into this new term, I agreed she was correct; that is how I wrote at the time.

According to a web search, a pantser is a writer who creates their story without a detailed plan or outline, hence the flying by the seat of their pants moniker. This approach allows for spontaneity and creativity, but can also lead to challenges like writer’s block or plot holes.

I have moved on from this terminology to the term plantsers.

This means they follow a little of both the plotter and pantser approach. In reality, most people are plantsers, but some tend to lean heavily to one side or the other.

To be honest, I was not familiar with the term “planters”. If I had come across this term a few years ago, I would still be saying I was a pantser. But as time went on and things changed, I moved toward a hybrid of both.

So there are options on how you write your manuscript. There are pros and cons to both.

Without diving into each in greater detail, where do you feel you fall?

Whatever works for you works for you—just another great topic to discuss among other writers.

Promoting oneself, Sharon C. Williams, Writing the book is the easy part

Promoting yourself: Are you being a pain?

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IMG_6346How far do you promote yourself and your books? Do you do it to the point that people turn away when they see you coming? Do you do so much or ask for so much that people rather not be bothered? Self promotion for any business is tough. Some people do it well and some struggle at it.

All one has to do is look at the TV and see those who have done it well or were in some cases at the right place at the right time. I would love to be at the right place at the right time when it comes to my writings. Some of those places are conferences and author meets. There you are vying for the attention of the big leaguers along with a hell of a lot of other authors trying to do the same thing. It’s a tough business. Don’t let anyone convince you it isn’t.

There are so many avenues we can try, doing them all will drive you batty, and let’s not forget there are always new avenues to try. If you don’t want a life or prefer not to spend time with your family then hey knock yourself out and go for it. Health wise you might want to rethink that.

When someone told me years ago that writing was the easy part, I laughed for I was still in the process of writing my first complete book. Since then I have given this same advice to a number of writers. They, like I did, didn’t believe it until they saw for themselves.

It’s crazy out there once you are done your book. Just don’t forget to breath and not piss off any potential readers or people who are willing to help you.