Though I loathe the term ‘pan*ser’ I’m a neutral one.
Which are you?
- Thread starter Phyrebrat
- Start date
I'm a neutral pantser much of the time, say Monday-Thursday, but then I'll have a random attack of lawful pantser, which is what Friday's are for, except perhaps Friday evening when I go full chaotic pantser. Weekends are when I might slurp the dodgy potion from the bottle in the fridge and let my beard down to be a chaotic plantser, except for those weekends when I pick out the bottle that's been there a month, well past it's cast-by date and then, you know, drooble.
TL;DR Some or any of the top row, plus middle-right.
TL;DR Some or any of the top row, plus middle-right.
Ori Vandewalle
Well-Known Member
Probably somewhere between a Lawful Plantser and a Neutral Plotter. Not sure I like the implication that plotting is evil, though. 
I'm big on worldbuilding and character background, but not so much on favorite sock minutiae. And while I know where the story is going, I don't have a really good idea of how I get there until I start writing it, discover what I need to flesh out, stop and do some plotting, then start writing again, rinse and repeat.
I'm big on worldbuilding and character background, but not so much on favorite sock minutiae. And while I know where the story is going, I don't have a really good idea of how I get there until I start writing it, discover what I need to flesh out, stop and do some plotting, then start writing again, rinse and repeat.
Lawful pantster
Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
Chaotic pantser
Ashleyne
The Beastess
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2014
- Messages
- 661
I start out as a true plantser and shift to lawful plantser, but end up with a lot of scrapped books. I've finished two out of six books in seven years with this method. I need to alter the way I do things.
The next book, I'm going for neutral plotter. I haven't started writing it, yet, though. My confidence took a blow from the last book I scrapped. I have a flexible synopsis written with a few gaps.
The next book, I'm going for neutral plotter. I haven't started writing it, yet, though. My confidence took a blow from the last book I scrapped. I have a flexible synopsis written with a few gaps.
Lawful pantser leaning towards true plantser.
my divtwin
Laura R Hepworth
Lady of the Rings (chainmaille rings that is)
Combination of Lawful Pantser and Chaotic Plotter . I write in order, but sometimes snippets come to me out of order and I write them down in either a journal or in the 'notes' file I keep for all my stories and then try to see where they fit. I have a general idea of where I'm going, but no idea how I'm going to get there (and sometimes the 'there' is actually the end of the whole series and not the individual book, in which case, I'm getting into Chaotic Plantser territory). My characters and plots often surprise me where they go, but I just run with it and see how it turns out.
. I write in order, but sometimes snippets come to me out of order and I write them down in either a journal or in the 'notes' file I keep for all my stories and then try to see where they fit. I have a general idea of where I'm going, but no idea how I'm going to get there (and sometimes the 'there' is actually the end of the whole series and not the individual book, in which case, I'm getting into Chaotic Plantser territory). My characters and plots often surprise me where they go, but I just run with it and see how it turns out.
Steve Harrison
Well-Known Member
If forced to pick only one, it would probably be Lawful Plantser (minus the character bios), as I don't start a novel unless I know the ending, but I can see elements in four or five others that I must use unconsciously.
Guttersnipe
mortal ally
Closest one is lawful pantser
Definitely a lawful one. I have a 3000-line excel spreadsheet with events, character arcs, plot threads sorted by character, group, location and date spreading all the way from story 1 to story 10 of my series. The start middle and end of each of the 10 stories is fully mapped out. I've got character bios with heights, weights, birthplaces, physical traits and real world likenesses where relevant. I've also got a companion word document for each act with notes on character motivations as well as areas to justify and mind map elements that aren't working.
Everything is ideal except for the part where I actually have to finish revising the first bloody novel. The phrase 'ass about face' springs to mind.
Everything is ideal except for the part where I actually have to finish revising the first bloody novel. The phrase 'ass about face' springs to mind.
Joshua Jones
When all is said and done, all's quiet and boring.
I used to be the most lawful plotter to ever plot a law. Now I'm somewhere between lawful plantser and true plantser. More precisely, for my MCs, I'm more on the lawful side, but for supporting characters, I have a rough idea but like to see how they develop. I'm mentally incapable of anything on the pants spectrum... I tried it once and wrote about a paragraph. In two days. And calling it a paragraph is rather generous. It just doesn't work for me.
Joshua Jones
When all is said and done, all's quiet and boring.
Well, you think you're a potato anyway...
Neutral Pantser occasionally attempts True Plantser but is off script by chapter two because the characters write the book, I just document what unfolds. And whatever happens to them, by the end it is obvious that they came up with a much better plot than I could have devised.