My time in school for English classes were never a good time for me. For the most part I never really could get into what was being taught. For the most part I could never grasp the rules and the teaching methods felt like Greek to me. I recently found the reasons behind this.
I am not sure how they do it now but when I was a kid they had only one method for teaching students how to write. Outlining and planning out your narrative was the standard as well as the 5 paragraph essay. Of course, the 5 paragraph essay is easy, it is essentially the sing-song poem of prose. But to say that outlining and planning what you write is the only way to write never worked for me.
I heard the term discovery writer for the first time last week. The idea is the writer discovers what they are writing as they are writing it. The curse of this can be once you have discovered the story, it can lose interest for you so you no longer care to write it. This has been the majority of my life. I have so much that was started and then never finished (will most likely never be touched again). A day or so after learning about discovery writing I ran across the term "pantser." Again, it was a revalation. "Pantsers" fly by the seat of their pants when they write. They are the polar opposites of the planners (those who love and live by the outline and note cards).
This doesn't necessarily change anything in the grand scheme of the world. But when you learn that you aren't really alone, there are others like you it can be a bit uplifting. At the same time when have a base to work from you gain a bit more for your tool box when you approach your limitations. It also gives you a bit more freedom to explore a bit outside your comfort zone.
Where do you find yourself? Are you a pantser or a plotter?
Can we be a little of both? Guess I am more of a pantser. But I often have the article written in my head before it's on paper...er...uh..disk.
ReplyDeleteAt times I am a little of both. One of the things that works for me at times is to have the idea of what it is I will be writing in my head and then write through that idea. You can tell many times when I am doing that if you ever see something I have written with a few out of place words right at the beginning.
DeleteJon,
ReplyDeleteI am a planner and then I pantser. I will plan out an article and then free write the article for the most part. I don't know if plan out is really the right word, I really just kind of think it out in my head and then write. Every now and then I actually create an outline but is generally when I am writing a long how-to article.
I have tried putting down the bones to novels. I plan the outline of the novel and then lose interest and never write the novel. At one time I was outlining a television series and then it disappeared from the program I was using and that was the end of that, never started again.
Oh well,
Jenn
I get an idea and while I am researching, the original idea may change and I like usually like this. This unfortunately adds more time.
ReplyDeleteBoy can I relate. I have always struggle with this and you just made me feel SOOO much better. Being dyslexic makes it all the more difficult and interesting when I do write, especially as a "Pantsers". :-)))
ReplyDeleteReally great post. We can get so enthralled with organization and structure that we forget nature doesn't even follow those rules (entropy). I'm definitely a Panster!
DeleteWhen I blog, I am most certainly a "pantser". I usually get inspired with a word or an idea and then it comes together as a type. However, when I am writing for a public speaking engagement, I usually like to plan as much as possible, even though I end up leaving my notes on the podium and speaking from the heart (or flying by the seat of my pants).
ReplyDeleteI am a pantser, too, but I usually do have a vague idea of the general topic and the three or so memories/sources that I'll be referencing. I like going where the words lead. I'm definitely not a planner.
ReplyDeleteBoo! Down with the five paragraph essay, the bastard stepchild to real writing. I studied rhetoric and composition in graduate school, and the professors in my writing program taught writing as a process for discovering. Namely, that all writers write out of a place of uncertainty. It's up to the author to shape their message in an effective way for the audience they are trying to reach. This is the exact opposite of what the five paragraph essay teaches. Sadly, most writing done in high schools never gets beyond that, which is why so many people end up struggling to put together eloquent prose. Anyway, Robert Atwan is a good source for exposing writing methods for what they are really worth.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings us to the panster or plotter debate. Real writing is so messy. It's recursive. The thought process continually loops back on itself as the writer re-sees and revises. Outlines certainly have their place, but in many instances, outlines can effectively shut down true creative thinking. So at the end of the day, I'll be totally cool and call myself a hybrid!
I have a feeling when we really examine the majority of us, we tend to be hybrids. Occasionally we will run into those who fall completely into one extreme or the other.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm a planner....I like preparing every article, every single chapter of my novel in detail..But I must confess that there are moments when my imagination just goes crazy :)
ReplyDeleteThat's great. We need more planners in our lives cause sometimes Pantsers like me tend to get a little lost.
DeleteI think I am a combo of the two depending on what my writing goal is
ReplyDelete