The definition of a panster is someone writing by the seat of their pants.
Am I a panter or a plotter?
When I write, I generally get a pad of paper, a pencil, and start.
I’ve usually visited a place that inspires the story–a vacation to Spokane became an authors hideout, a trip to southern Louisiana became a hand-me-down haunted house, an afternoon in Boulder became a dream come true for an events planner (do you get my drift?). The places I visit usually inspire the setting and then the characters begin to take shape, a woman takes her mother’s place in the family business when her mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, a man decides to turn his cattle ranch into a working guest ranch, a woman has to go home when her life falls apart. I usually fill a whole notebook with a rough draft of the story as it takes shape.
I don’t do outlines. I tried one once, when suggested at a workshop. That was a huge mistake! I was so anxious to follow the outline and really tried, but nothing was working out…it felt too…contrived. I finally scrapped the book and haven’t gone back to it or outlines again. Though, not having an outline later on can cause anxiety when an agent asks for one. I say, “You want me to send a what?”
So, I am a Panster and proud of it! But wait…
Once I have a notebook full of story, I need structure. I need a calendar, because my opening chapter takes place in September and suddenly we’re having Thanksgiving dinner. (Have you ever read a novel where the characters are bowling on Saturday night and the next day is Monday? Oops!) That might slip by an author, an editor, even a publisher, but it never ever slips by the readers. My characters are already talking to me by this point, but they have to become real people with definite characteristics and quirks. Did she have a birthmark above her eye or above her lip? Was he so memorable because of his beautiful dimples or his bad breath?
I start researching how many members make up the city council in Eden Falls, Washington. What does an attorney have to do to practice in one state while living in another? How many members are in my country western band and what instruments do they play? How does a working cattle ranch work and what do the guests do?
The bottom line–I guess I start out as a panster, allowing the story to take the shape and direction it wants to go and then the plotter comes out of me and develops a more defined timeline, a conflict that creates all kinds of drama, and a nice twist of surprise to make readers exclaim, “Oh my gosh! I never expected that!”
If you’re a writer, are you a panster, a plotter, or a combination?