All posts tagged: pantser

Write On, Wednesday: Pantser versus Plotter

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By Leslie Lindsay I thought I would share a little insight from my daughter’s second grade classroom this past spring.  Since it’s about the components of fiction writing, I thought it would work.  And it probably still will.  But I am not in the mood for it today.  That’s what makes me a panster.  If you’re unfamiliar with the term, let me enlighten you.  A pantser is a person who flies by the seat of their pants when writing.  There is no piddly outline to follow, no hidden agenda.  The pantser loves to write.  Well, the plotter probably does, too I can’t really speak to that being that I am not a plotter.  Like.  At.  All.  The mere mention of an outline scares the heebie-jeebies outta me.  Here’s the reason:  I hated them in school. They stifle my creativity, my flow, and were just pointless.  (Could it be the same reason I turn into a cold sweat when I hear the word budget?) But is there a right way or a wrong way to be a writer?  No. It …

Write On, Wednesday: Playing with Cards

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By Leslie Lindsay  (image source: http://www.benzinga.com 5.22.13) Yesterday I booked a trip to Vegas, so it’s no surprise I have been in my kitchen playing cards.  And what the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in China…or writing for that matter?  The trip is to celebrate the wedding of a childhood friend and the cards well, they have nothing to do with gambling and everything to do with something just as risky–my first novel.  Affectionally, I refer to myself a ‘pantser,’ that is someone who writes by the seat of her pants.  I don’t plot.  I don’t like it.  I feel it stifles the creative process, rather than juicing them up (my critique partner claims plotting excites her to delve into the story).  I like to deliberate and then get hit with a burst of inspiration I can’t possibly let slip by.  So when my completed Slippery Slope had some holes and a few too many overall words (doesn’t that sound like an oxymoron…how can a story have holes and be too …

Write on, Wednesday! To Plot, or Not to Plot…that is the Question

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By Leslie Lindsay As most of you know, I am feverishly working on a novel.  Second draft revisions…rewrites, or whatever you want to call ’em are tough.  The first draft was all composed on the fly.  That is, I am a pantser (as in seat-of-my-pants).  I first heard that term when I attended the Write-by-the-Lake retreat this past June.  I heard it again when I was reading the latest issue of Writer’s Digest (March/April 2013). So, let’s back up to that statement at the top:  Second-draft revisions are tough.  As I’ve been working through this draft with my wonderful writing partner (who reads, critiques, gives, suggestions, and kicks my butt), I’ve been seriously considering starting the next book with a good old-fashioned outline, thinking it would make those 2nd draft revisions much easier.  After reading this article in WD, I am wrong, wrong, wrong!  Take what you want–work how you want–but for me, the outline may not be my bestfriend.  It’s too limiting.  It’s too old-school, it’s too predictable…and it sort of takes the fun …