3 ms·
There are a number of descriptors that all tend to mean the same thing for the spectrum of writing styles at play here: - Discovery / Outline - Pantser / Plot
by slowmovintarget 3y ago
There are a number of descriptors that all tend to mean the same thing for the spectrum of writing styles at play here:
- Discovery / Outline
- Pantser / Plotter
- Gardner / Architect
Those labels apply to the extremes of either technique, and writers often fall somewhere more to one side or the other. Stephen King is a discovery writer. It's why his endings often fizzle. Brandon Sanderson is an outliner, which is why his novels tend to have a recognizable escalation to what fans have taken to calling "the Sanderlanche."
There's no right way to do it, and it really depends on what works for the writer.
- tunesmith 3y agoWhat I find interesting about that spectrum is that it's also suggested by the tension between character and plot. It's extremely difficult to make both equally important. It's much easier to either sketch out the character motivations and then see what kind of plot happens to them, or, to sketch out the plot and then see what kind of characters that would suggest. But to do both at once is a real challenge. It's also similar to songwriting in that sense. If you want to write a really good song, do you write lyrics first or music first? Generally speaking, if you pick one or the other, you'll find that one "serves" the other. Writing both at once, though... that's really hard.