Yes. No. What in the name of cucumber sandwiches am I talking about now?
I’m sure you’ve all come across the great Pantser vs Plotter debate by now but what about those of us who are left floating somewhere in between? Some days I’m in plotter mode to the point that I scare myself, other days those neat little note cards, that fifteen page powerpoint presentation or that excel document bite the dust as chapter four is completely rewritten which of course results in the add-on effect and bam! Different book completely.
Yes the original, plotted black moment would have my heroine in tears and anyone else in the vicinity but it had to go (and if I’m honest I don’t miss it because I honestly believe it wouldn’t fit anyway). Why does this happen? I blame my characters (because I can). If, for once, they did as they were told I’d probably get someone to do a psych evaluation of me.
So if I’m not sticking to my plot, I must be a pantser right?
Yes, that’s what I thought too but the fact is that I need an outline to start a book. I need to know where it goes for those moments when I hit a wall and wonder when my brain went on vacation and why it hasn’t changed the message on its answering machine.
The point is I switch. My brain can’t decide what it is. It starts of plotter, switches to pantser and then flips back and forth a couple of times just to make my writing complete and utter rubbish or interesting… (it depends on how you look at it) ;) If you’re like me it might be handy to know WE ARE NOT ALONE! Lucy Monroe joins us in our quirkiness! Personally I think there’s something wrong with the rest of you… ;)
So are you? Are you a schizophrenic writer?
