I think of myself not as a pantser or a plotter, but as a herder. The goal is to get the character into a pen at the other side for the field. Character is why the character does not want to go into the pen and all the particular ways they will attempt to avoid going there. Plot is the dog that cuts them off every time they try to move away from the pen until eventually they have no choice but to enter it. After that it's just shearing and branding.
Plot, then, is a reaction to character in action. There is room for discovery and invention while always pursuing the goal of getting the characters into the pen. Plotting everything out from the beginning precludes learning from character as it develops. Pantsing means letting the dog chase the sheep around the field until they die of exhaustion without any idea of where the pen is.
Wonderful article! I am in the midst of an "Autumn Author Challenge" where the goal is to simply sit and write a short story in one go. You are given three prompts to incorporate into the story and you take a minute to let the unrelated prompts connect themselves in your mind. Then you set a timer for an hour or two and just go!
I can only find out what I'm writing about by starting to write. As I learn where the ideas are taking me, I circle back and revise from the beginning. Over and over. Thank God for computers. But anyway, that might be why I don't write novels. I'd have to hold every word and every paragraph's linkage to every other paragraph in mind and keep tweaking the words and the flow to the desired perfect aptness all the way to the end. My old head might short circuit. Even shorter pieces are getting harder for me to keep it all together.
I think of myself not as a pantser or a plotter, but as a herder. The goal is to get the character into a pen at the other side for the field. Character is why the character does not want to go into the pen and all the particular ways they will attempt to avoid going there. Plot is the dog that cuts them off every time they try to move away from the pen until eventually they have no choice but to enter it. After that it's just shearing and branding.
Plot, then, is a reaction to character in action. There is room for discovery and invention while always pursuing the goal of getting the characters into the pen. Plotting everything out from the beginning precludes learning from character as it develops. Pantsing means letting the dog chase the sheep around the field until they die of exhaustion without any idea of where the pen is.
Well said, Mark! (And Daniel!)
I love this depiction!
Wonderful article! I am in the midst of an "Autumn Author Challenge" where the goal is to simply sit and write a short story in one go. You are given three prompts to incorporate into the story and you take a minute to let the unrelated prompts connect themselves in your mind. Then you set a timer for an hour or two and just go!
I can only find out what I'm writing about by starting to write. As I learn where the ideas are taking me, I circle back and revise from the beginning. Over and over. Thank God for computers. But anyway, that might be why I don't write novels. I'd have to hold every word and every paragraph's linkage to every other paragraph in mind and keep tweaking the words and the flow to the desired perfect aptness all the way to the end. My old head might short circuit. Even shorter pieces are getting harder for me to keep it all together.