Plot vs Pants - which am I?

If you're apart of the Author and Reader spheres, you've probably heard the terms Plot and Pants. But to just hear it in general conversation, what he heck does it mean?

I suspect Plot is obvious. Just in case though… Plotting is when Authors outline the entirety of their novel. They build the world they are going to write within, and then they form the story inside of it and the character motivation. All plotting authors know what will happen in ever single chapter. They know the beginning, middle and the end and how they go from A-Z.

Now, Pantsing? That sounds rather off the wall, doesn't it? Pants, Pantsing, Pantser, is not someone who runs up behind you and try and yank your shorts down; at least not in this case. To Pants equates to 'flying by the seat of your pants'. Pants for short. These writers might have an idea on where they're starting and how it ends, but they have no clue about the middle. They discover their characters motivations as they write the novel. They discover the world and how it operates as the story unfolds.

There are pros and cons to both, and both types of authors will say the other is wrong.

You need to have an outline if you're going to write a book - Any Plotter out there.

Making a plot and outlining the whole story from start to finish, is so limiting! What if half way through the book, one of your characters wants to take the story in a totally different direction! - I've heard Pantsers say this.

Both will probably tell you there's no way to be both a plotter and a pantser. At least in the circles I've been drifting through anyway. Frankly, I disagree, and I consider myself a Pantser!

As I already said, there are pros and cons to both, and I've found some rather serious cons with being a Pantser. My novel Cambion Strength is ten years old. I've been working on that novel for ten years. It was probably ready to publish a long while ago, so why hasn't it been? Every time I read over it, to take it to the next stage I found something I wanted to change. I didn't like the direction it went, I didn't like a scene that needed to change, which changed things later in the book. I didn't like the ending or the start on multiple occasions. I think if I had some even an ounce of plotting with this book I don't think I would have had this problem, and my novel would've been out to the masses by now; whether Trad-pubbed or Self-pubbed.

So, what am I doing instead, with Kobold King?

I cannot give up my pantsing ways, but I am taking notes from the Plotting community. In fact, I've done a whole bunch of world building, and trying to flesh out character motivations, likes, dislikes, personalities and all that before I even start putting word to page. I have written a total of six chapters for Kobold King so far, but every time I write a chapter, something for later creeps up, so at this point I have a pile of notes that I've been doing my best at keeping organized.

Do I actually think I'm still a Pantser? No. Not anymore.

What am I considered then, if not a Pantser or a Plotter? Honestly there's a combination word, for authors called a Plantser. Talk about a mouthful, and makes me sound like a bougie Gardener or something!

There are two ways that Plantsers typically write: The Scaffold Approach and The Discovery Process. I love and write in The Discovery Process. Google defines the process as thus:

They draft by the "seat of their pants," but stop periodically to map out the plot once they figure out where the story is going

This is basically what I've been doing. I write a couple of chapters and then all of a sudden, I'm being side tracked by naming a bunch of fantasy races something else because Elf, Dwarf, Orc is over used. Why not give it a new life?

Oh wait! New races? What is the name of the world they live in? Gotta figure that out - how many continents does earth have? Countries? Oh! My Fae & Magic-teck novel that I shelved could also go into this world.

How does this magic source effect my 'human' race?

There's a race that warships dragons? Apparently I have actual dragons now, not just kobolds.

Oh no, Kobold King has become a douology…

The plotting is a lot more fun than I have ever realized. Knowing why two of my male characters hate each other has been helping me write their dynamic so much better than I've written rivalry in the past.

Knowing that my female main character actually doesn't like the puffy dresses she's been wearing in the story lately, and only wears them to make her father happy, and might not be acting like her real self… how is she going to change in the upcoming chapters?

Knowing stuff is coming has been a very helpful in writing something I'm truly enjoying. The passion for Cambion Strength has waned, but that's likely because I don't know where the story is going to go. What I'm learning from Kobold King I'll be taking to Cambion Strength. I'll be reading through that novel one last time making final edits and changes and working through a plot line so I know where that story is going.

I have five story ideas for this Cambion series, and I'm going to have to do some serious plotting and figuring out the thread through them, if I'm going to write it properly. Five books is a lot, and that's a lot of information to keep track of.

Kobold King is sizing up to be a Douology; so just two books

Fae & Magic-teck, I wanna try and make that a trilogy; three books.

I have ten books that I want to write, and I can only do it one at a time. I better get good at being a Plantser and refine my Discovery Process.

If you're curious there's seven continents and 195 recognized countries on Earth…

Also, I have twelve colours for my dragons. Blue Purple Gold Black

Red Orange Silver White

Yellow Green Copper Bronze