Pantser

What can I say? I like snakes. (Photo by Bryant Olsen – Flickr Creative Commons)

I love being a pantser.

Isto isn’t plotted. Oh, I know where I need to end up and major events that have to happen in between. But as far as outlining–that stuff isn’t for me. I struggle with writing chronologically, so I don’t unless I feel inclined. That’s the beauty of yWriter. I can create chapters (really just headers with a word relating to general idea) and scenes as guidelines. But I fill them in later and start writing the stuff I want to write. Besides, if I don’t want to write it, will someone really want to read it?

But of course, those transition scenes are necessary. And sometimes those transitions turn out to be quite fun. I really enjoy Jim Butcher’s books and discovered some time back that he has some excellent advice on writing. I try to keep his post on scenes in mind when I write, and have utilized it a lot these past couple of weeks.

Sure what’s-her-name is the same type of being as the monsters…but what if she changed into a monster and turned on those she was trying to protect? Or they land in a swamp infested with venomous snakes and someone got bit? And maybe that helpful demigoddess wasn’t as helpful as they’d thought.

None of this was in my conception of the story. I also have no clue how I’m going to get my characters out of these situations. But hey! If I don’t know, then other people might not either. I don’t know if I’m even capable of plotting out a non-boring story. I’m sure if I’ve thought of it, someone else has too. That’s why I love not thinking! *blink* Okay, maybe that didn’t come out right.

This is just me being a pantser and nothing really helpful for all of you. I suppose that makes me a crappy blogger. So here are a couple of links to stuff I mentioned earlier:

• Jim Butcher’s Live Journal, chock full of good writing advice
• yWriter for those people like me who enjoy writing wherever in a story and a single document won’t do. (And the program fits on a thumb drive, making it usable on any PC!)

Happy Writing!