4 ms·

What's a pantser and a plotter? Wild guess: pantser novelists are more descriptive (a lot of ink spilled on clothing) while plotters have much more characters

What's a pantser and a plotter? Wild guess: pantser novelists are more descriptive (a lot of ink spilled on clothing) while plotters have much more characters and intrigue? I keep trying to write something using composites of people I know as characters, but this ensures I don't get details as hair color right.

DennisP 9y ago
I think it's outlining your whole plot in advance, vs. writing by the seat of your pants.
acdw 9y ago
I took it more as "by the seat of your pants" (i.e., just write and organize later), vs. plotting a direction with an outline, etc. before beginning to write. Just a guess though.
neogodless 9y ago
Interestingly enough, these words have definitions available to anyone ambitious enough to take it upon themselves to do a web search. > A pantser is someone who, “flies by the seat of their pants,” meaning they don't plan out anything, or plan very little. Some people, like me, call themselves “plantsers,” which means they're in a little of both. > Simply put, a plotter is someone who plans out their novel before they write it. [0] http://thewritepractice.com/plotters-pantsers/ http://thewritepractice.com/plotters-pantsers/
jcranmer 9y ago
I've never heard those terms in particular used before, but there is a major dichotomy in writing: do you extensively organize, outline, and plan the structure of your novel before you start writing; or do you primarily let your novel evolve organically as you write it. The former I'm guessing is being called plotter and the latter a pantser here.
- mrec 9y ago
  Yes, that's correct. I don't know whether these terms originated in the NaNoWriMo community, but that was where I first encountered them.
ColinWright 9y ago
Sorry if this is going to sound seriously "Grumpy Old Man", but I just typed (well, copy/paste) exactly your question into Google and got the answer in an instant. So this is a genuine question - why did you ask this here instead of doing a search? You typed your question and random speculation into the comment/reply box, while you could just as easily - even more easily - typed your question into the search box. So there must be a reason - why not do the search?
- mynameismonkey 9y ago
  Because as the other answers to the question show, sometimes there's more to be gleaned from a human interaction than a straight fact-finding trip to the Internet. Or, sometimes, people just want to interact with a human. You know, converse. We're a peer group, right? We're here to discuss things. Op is discussing. If the entire group deemed it too obvious a question to merit replying, no-one would have replied. Further, this question and answer is now available to Google to crawl, store, and return for future searchers. How did Google get all the answers that are available in the first place? Someone typed a question, and someone else answered it. Finally, I Googled _your_ question and came up with this answer: "Because receiving a personalized response is far more gratifying than reading a Wikipedia page. It makes you feel at the very least a connection to another human being which other than " leaving a footprint " is mans greatest desire in life."
  - thanatropism 9y ago
    No, no, no. Basic web searches note the expression "write by the seat of your pants", which in turn is inspired by "fly by the seat of your pants". That's a completely mystifying expression to me. On the other hand, your answer is an impressive feat of projection: the armchair psychology you invoke to explain why someone would do something you don't understand at first is clearly an explanation for why you would choose to type out an off-topic demonstration of your grasp of basic internet skills. It must be, following your sample of psychological theory, really satisfying to plant some kind of flag saying "I know how to Google". In a forum called "Hacker News" no less. I know it's pleasant to feel superior to other people, but this particular claim-to-superiority is both incredibly low-(intellectual)-effort and trying-too-hard. That's not s good look on anyone.

DennisP 9y ago

I think it's outlining your whole plot in advance, vs. writing by the seat of your pants.

acdw 9y ago

I took it more as "by the seat of your pants" (i.e., just write and organize later), vs. plotting a direction with an outline, etc. before beginning to write. Just a guess though.

neogodless 9y ago

Interestingly enough, these words have definitions available to anyone ambitious enough to take it upon themselves to do a web search. > A pantser is someone who, “flies by the seat of their pants,” meaning they don't plan out anything, or plan very little. Some people, like me, call themselves “plantsers,” which means they're in a little of both. > Simply put, a plotter is someone who plans out their novel before they write it. [0] http://thewritepractice.com/plotters-pantsers/ http://thewritepractice.com/plotters-pantsers/

jcranmer 9y ago

I've never heard those terms in particular used before, but there is a major dichotomy in writing: do you extensively organize, outline, and plan the structure of your novel before you start writing; or do you primarily let your novel evolve organically as you write it. The former I'm guessing is being called plotter and the latter a pantser here.

mrec 9y ago
Yes, that's correct. I don't know whether these terms originated in the NaNoWriMo community, but that was where I first encountered them.

ColinWright 9y ago

Sorry if this is going to sound seriously "Grumpy Old Man", but I just typed (well, copy/paste) exactly your question into Google and got the answer in an instant. So this is a genuine question - why did you ask this here instead of doing a search? You typed your question and random speculation into the comment/reply box, while you could just as easily - even more easily - typed your question into the search box. So there must be a reason - why not do the search?

mynameismonkey 9y ago
Because as the other answers to the question show, sometimes there's more to be gleaned from a human interaction than a straight fact-finding trip to the Internet. Or, sometimes, people just want to interact with a human. You know, converse. We're a peer group, right? We're here to discuss things. Op is discussing. If the entire group deemed it too obvious a question to merit replying, no-one would have replied. Further, this question and answer is now available to Google to crawl, store, and return for future searchers. How did Google get all the answers that are available in the first place? Someone typed a question, and someone else answered it. Finally, I Googled _your_ question and came up with this answer: "Because receiving a personalized response is far more gratifying than reading a Wikipedia page. It makes you feel at the very least a connection to another human being which other than " leaving a footprint " is mans greatest desire in life."
- thanatropism 9y ago
  No, no, no. Basic web searches note the expression "write by the seat of your pants", which in turn is inspired by "fly by the seat of your pants". That's a completely mystifying expression to me. On the other hand, your answer is an impressive feat of projection: the armchair psychology you invoke to explain why someone would do something you don't understand at first is clearly an explanation for why you would choose to type out an off-topic demonstration of your grasp of basic internet skills. It must be, following your sample of psychological theory, really satisfying to plant some kind of flag saying "I know how to Google". In a forum called "Hacker News" no less. I know it's pleasant to feel superior to other people, but this particular claim-to-superiority is both incredibly low-(intellectual)-effort and trying-too-hard. That's not s good look on anyone.