In this timeline, however, Plotters and Pantsers (on their best behavior) try to coexist peacefully in public, while privately wishing the other would change their ways. Both species have solid reasons for writing as they do. They also collect comedic “zingers” aimed at those on the other side of the fence.

Plotters

Plotters outline their stories before setting pen to paper.

Some of these outlines are simple, one-line synopses of each chapter: “Jane meets John.” Others are developed in such great detail that they can sell their publisher on a new book before writing the first sentence. Once their outline is complete, Plotters need only to, as James Patterson notes in his Masterclass, “fill in the blanks.”

Zinger among Plotters when discussing Pantsers: “How can you start writing a book when you don’t know how it ends? Write the ending first!”

There are many approaches to plotting out a story. Here’s just a sampling:

1. The Hero’s Journey. A classic “twelve-stage, myth-inspired” approach to story-telling, first made popular by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces and later in Christopher Vogel’s The Writer’s Journey.
2. Maureen Murdock’s The Heroine’s Journey is similar to the Hero’s Journey, but with an emphasis on overcoming societal patriarchy and embracing the feminine (i.e., there’s more involved than plugging a female protagonist into the Hero’s Journey).
3. Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat Writes a Novel applies the “beat” approach, favored by television and film, to writing fiction. Brody’s approach builds on the modern “three act” story structure.
4. Shane Coyne’s The Story Grid is an intensive break-down of how editors evaluate books. Coyne’s analysis is helpful, but extrapolating it back into your creative process will be daunting. Some swear by it, others swear at it (pantsers, I’d guess).

Pantsers

Pantsers make it up as they go: “flying by the seat of their pants.”

Terry Pratchett is credited with describing it like this: “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” Pantsers nod, smile, and feel validated. They can relate to Pratchett. And most times, they’ll freely — even giddily — admit that this means the second draft is hard work. That’s when Pantsers wrestle with “telling anyone else the story.”

Zinger among Pantsers when discussing Plotters: “Characters are living things. They’ll take your story in directions you never imagined. Write the ending first? Fuhgeddaboudit.” (HT to Stephen King for demonstrating how to spell this phrase.)

If there’s such a thing as a “Pantsers’ Manifesto,” it’s probably Stephen King’s On Writing. King summarizes the difference between plotting and pantsing like this:

“Writing controlled fiction is called ‘plotting.’ Buckling your seatbelt and letting the story take over, however … that is called ‘storytelling.’ Storytelling is as natural as breathing; plotting is the literary version of artificial respiration.” (Salem’s Lot)

Make no mistake: King has a lot to say about editing, grammar, speech tags, story revision, and (most famously) adverbs. But his creative process is pantsing with a capital P, and he makes no bones about it.

Making peace with your process

Plotters and Pantsers, as species, are wired in distinctive ways at the molecular level. Their creative processes are — much like the venerable “left brain/right brain” polarity — exponentially different. Monumentally, insurmountably, obstinately, irreconcilably not-the-same-and-never-the-twain-shall-meet different. (Stephen King, should you ever stumble upon this article, have mercy on my copious adverbial sins.)

Stop trying to convert plotters into pantsers, or pantsers into plotters. It’s not only a waste of time, it’s rude and disrespectful.

Don’t get me wrong: We can — and should — learn from each other’s creative process. I’m a pantser (if that wasn’t obvious), but I’ve read the plotting books listed above (with the exception of The Story Grid, which I took in through an online video course). I have no doubt that I’ve incorporated, even subconsciously, lessons from each.

My instinctive writing approach is a modernized version of Freytag’s Pyramid, or the three act story arc. If someone held a gun to my head and forced me to pick a plotting approach, I’d go with Save the Cat Writes a Novel. Having said that, I’d also argue that Captain Barbossa’s interpretation of the Pirate’s Code still applies: “It’s more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.”¹

Bottom line

Everyone — plotters and pantsers alike — would do well to read (at minimum) The Writer’s Journey, The Heroine’s Journey, Save the Cat Writes a Novel, and On Writing. Glean what you can, smile and wave at the rest. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the best and go.

And let’s agree to give those zingers a well-deserved retirement, shall we?

¹ Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl