What kind of writer are you—plotter, pantser, or hybrid?
I recently saw a quote from C.G. Drews @PaperFury that really hit home for me. (Capitalization was part of the quote I saw on Facebook, so I am presenting it as it appeared.)
“there are three type of writers;
1) those who plot their books
2) those who discover their plot along the way
3) those who know what will happen but their book is a bit feral still, needs a bath, has bitten and will bite again.”
I’m sort of a hybrid writer. I do some plotting, but I have a bad habit of forgetting to look at the plot once I’ve created it, so my stories tend ultimately to flow more organically. However, when “pantsing” leaves me stuck in a corner, sometimes the plot helps bail me out, or at least gives me a structure for correcting whatever mistake got me into trouble.
But it was #3 that really struck me. Been there, done that. I’ve been bitten by my main character. In fact, at one point my main character threw the key element of the plot for an entire book out the window. I was trying to plot one day, and he basically just said, “Nope. Not doing that.”
I hope that every writer has a chance to experience having their MC talk back to them. It’s the moment at which you realize your characters have become living, breathing creatures. If they are real for you, they’ll be more real for your readers.
My advice is to listen respectfully when they talk back. They often know more about the direction the story should take than we, as the builders, do. In my case, my MC was absolutely correct. I knew it. I was still aggravated, because I had to start from scratch on that story, but I couldn’t deny he nailed it.
Perhaps some day I will once again experience the painful joy of being bitten by one of my characters. I look forward to it.
