Any pantsers here?

[BlackKnightX]

We all know that there are two types of writers in the writing world, a plotter and a pantser.

As for those of you who don’t know, a plotter plans the story before they write, while a pantser doesn’t. That’s the gist of it.

If you ask me which type am I, then I have to answer with both. Yes, I’m the combination of a plotter and a pantser which I like to call it a “plantser”. I usually have a very rough plan or ideas of where‘s the story gonna go, and I figure all the details out as I write.

But, what I want to know is the writing process of a pure pantser. You know, a writer who doesn’t plan anything whatsoever and just write and figures things out as they go. I want to know the thinking process and how they approach writing.

So if any of you are a pure pantser, please share your experience and insight with me.

Thanks in advance.??

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I'm currently in the middle of understanding who I am. The current and only story was born absolutely spontaneous, and I barely plan a single thing as I write it. I will make a plan for the next story and see the result.

 

[Vnator]

Plotter here. But as I write, I might end up coming up with something even better or an entirely new direction to take the story in, so in that way I'm kind of a pantser. But then after that chapter I might go and remake my plans to take into account the changes, usually in a way that has everything tie back together or make use of whatever was introduced in that spontaneous change in the future so it's not just a one-off idea.

 

[ElijahRyne]

I know what will happen in the chapter I am writing, the big story beats, and how it ends, but that is about it. If I start planning more, I could write mysteries though…

 

[BlackKnightX]

Plotter here. But as I write, I might end up coming up with something even better or an entirely new direction to take the story in, so in that way I'm kind of a pantser. But then after that chapter I might go and remake my plans to take into account the changes, usually in a way that has everything tie back together or make use of whatever was introduced in that spontaneous change in the future so it's not just a one-off idea.

Totally understand you! I usually only plot with a few story beats and then dive into the writing right away. But there were a lot of times when I just had to change the beats because of the sudden ideas that I had in that moment.

I know what will happen in the chapter I am writing, the big story beats, and how it ends, but that is about it. If I start planning more, I could write mysteries though…

We have the same planning process. ?

 

[Mephi]

Little of both

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

Pfft... I only know the beginning, middle, and end. How I get there, I wing it!

 

[BlackKnightX]

Pfft... I only know the beginning, middle, and end. How I get there, I wing it!

Superb!

 

[SakeVision]

*sniff* I'm a pantser....good pantsu

Plotter, I'm a plotter, I always know what's going to happen next many, many chapters forward-simply because daydreaming is instant, and writing takes time.

 

[BlackKnightX]

*sniff* I'm a pantser....good pantsu

Plotter, I'm a plotter, I always know what's going to happen next many, many chapters forward-simply because daydreaming is instant, and writing takes time.

Totally relatable. I wish I have a psychic power that can convert my thoughts into the written texts in an instant!

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I'm in the middle. I write some notes, but I wing it for the most part and heavily edit later.

 

[HyperiousTheSun]

I am a plotter in the sense that I make plans for my stories and have planned arcs but how those arcs goes depend on when I write and what I have read recently that may also influence my writing.
So both I guess.

 

[DarklyReadsBooks]

I have 0 fucking clue what I'm doing most of the time.

 

[Irl_Rat]

I'm quite the pantser, any guy that has been in the locker-room with me can attest to this matter.

Oh, but for writing I'm mostly a plotter. I always know the general outline of the story and how certain events must occur to convey the theme. How things get to that point can always change, but the destination is the same, mostly.

 

[Macrendil-Ysmir]

I plan the main character (weapon of choice, origin, skillset, personality etc.) and usually plot out a series of major events, the subjects of "Arcs". I then start writing and aim for roughly 20 chaps per Arc, of which I have some idea of how to complete it, but 70% only happens because I come up with it on the spot. Some Arcs I put a bit more thought in than others, because I want to introduce people or future events.

And that's for my basic "little rules" fantasy story. The Historical-Fiction stuff I have in my mind will require a LOT of reading up so I know which historical figures I can pull in, which developments to keep an eye on and which events to shift around to my MC can do his things and always be busy (f.e. pulling major battles from a 50 year time period into just 10 years so MC can always play in big fights)

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Once tried being a panster. Failed and havent gone back since too many plotholes I feel. So now just plotting but really, nm of anything.

 

[JMMatheis]

Being too loose with my plots was a big issue for me when I started writing. I knew the start a couple of mid points and an awesome end. Connecting the dots was an issue. It led to discarded chapters and lost worlds.

Now, in this more mature iteration of myself; I start with a general plot, work out which characters I want to use. Then I spend time to understand how the characters would react in those situations, amend the plot and flesh out the general path of the story. Reasonably detailed, write some scenes that come to mind.

As I write, things pop up, ideas that can be added or adjustments to the plot. In my current story, I worked out one of the biggest character twists on the fly, and that one is going to be a part of it through the next two books as well.

I would say I am a bit of both, 'Planster' it is. I plot and plan, but in the actual moment, inspiration is key. I find it helps to drive the story further. When I come across problems, I skip ahead and continue writing and that then informs me in reverse of how to connect the two points together. I think that is making sense...

 

[Agentt]

Alright, so here is my thought process as a pure panster

I had an idea,
What if a 17 year old becomes a mafia boss, accidentally kills everyone on his first day in his family, and now has to pretend that they are still alive and he is still rich and powerful.


So, I started with a character introduction, and how he was kidnapped, and for his personality, I chose "running away from reality" type, and he kept on bumbling instead of asking what is happening or where is he.

Then, I got reminded of another idea I once had, a few months ago,
It was about an entire evil organisation which got transmigerated to isekai, and the boss of the evil organisation is a mad scientist.

So, I continued the story, having my character spouts many many useless facts and questions about everything, much like how someone with ADHD would talk like.

Now, I suddenly have an idea that Sherlock Holmes, but he is chunni is also a great idea, so I made our character both, a genius, and a weeb.

 

[EternalSunset0]

Not as much anymore since I had a bad experience with pantsing. It's actually why the 2017 version of my current series never made it past my MS Word and into the Internet, and I just quit writing outright until last year. I wrote myself into too many holes and walls doing it and had a lot of characters going OOC to keep the plot going as well as making questionable decisions. That's why I plan things out and wait until an entire volume has been finished before slowly releasing the chapters.

There are still plot conveniences once in a while and all, and I think I still pants a bit if that's what you call putting some random scene/fluff on the fly just as an avenue for development/foreshadowing convos. But the beginning, the end, and the key moments are all planned, as well as some lines that had to be said in the volume.

 

[LoliGent]

Both for me, but not at the same time. Got two stories, one is just a silly isekai. I do write 3 chapters on a whim, and then come back to it, but pretty much, there's no real planning aside from broad notes. My previous story, the one I call the Bathroom story, was definitely pantser, and it was clear that going all in without a premade plan was a bad idea. The story ended up going in a very dark and disgusting direction and I had to end it before it got worse. I know at least put some effort into making notes and get ahead a few chapters at least.

But I do have a story currently in production that is being planned meticulously to the point that it's going through a rewrite. I had 41 chapters already written and now I have to scrap them all because it was not going well. I'm barely writing a test draft to get feedback and I have no idea when I'm going to start writing the darn thing.

So yeah, being a pantser leads me to a dark and scary road, while being a plotter hardly gets me writing anything. How about that.