100 Things You Should Know About Writing (Part 1)

8) What Type of Writer are You?

This topic came from a question JoyCronje asked when I'd first mentioned plot driven and character driven writers. 

Her request was that I explain a bit more about what being plot driven or character driven writer means, and that made me think I should explain that along with a few other terms that might come up in this book later.  

There're probably a million ways to classify fiction writers into groups (not counting mode of publishing), but I'm going to stick to the four main classification systems that I encountered most in my blogging experiences. 

Plot Driven vs Character Driven.

As I mentioned the last time I posted, this refers to what the writer focuses on more during the creation of the story. 

Plot driven writers tend to have a deep love for sturdy plots and strong story-lines. However, sometimes they may find their characters aren't as rounded as some readers might wish. This is mainly because they'll be more focused on the plot arc than the character arc. You know those books where there's a character that comes out at the end pretty much exactly the same as when the book started? Yeah. That's a plot driven writer's work. 

Opposite to this is a character driven writer. They're inspired by and driven to complete stories by the characters they create. So where a plot driven writer creates characters to suit a given plot, character driven writers work out plots to suit the characters. The problem with this is that many character driven writers tend to have pacing problems in their stories. You know the ones where the story takes FOREVER to start, but the character is awesome? Typical character driven story.

Plotter vs Pantser

As the name suggests, a plotter is a person who plots out the whole or at least part of the story before starting to write it. Logically, one would think that most plot driven writers would gravitate to plotting, since they focus on the plot more. However, this is NOT necessarily true. A lot of plotters will compare planning ahead to having a map and an itenerary, but not an exact way to get from place to place. That's to say, if they get a better or different idea for the story, it doesn't mean they start the story from scratch. They plan again and then either continue with the new plan, or start again with the new plan. The disadvantage can be that the writer can create a dilemma within themselves when a new idea comes along. Will they or won't they change the plan? Especially when they're not sure about how the change will affect the overall story.

"Pantser" comes from the phrase flying by the seat of his/her pants. Which refers to the writer writing without a plan, whether this is done on purpose or our of necessity. The advantage (from my decidedly pantserish point of view) is that it creates a more spontaneous writing experience. Random idea crops up? Sure. Work it in. Character not working right for the story? Kill him off. Whatever. Nothing limits the stretches of our imagination. (Although I know plotters argue the same point for themselves as well.) The disadvantage? Pantsers have a terrible habit of losing track of their story. And because of that habit of chasing plot bunnies, they might never come to the end of a story unless they have a very particular idea as to what the end of the story should be. 

Edit Right Now vs Edit Later 

This is probably the second most contentious aspect splitting writers. With the other two, one side will look on the other with some mild pity and thank their stars that they're working the way they do. 

But when it comes to editing, it often feels like every writer and his/her mother is sure that theirs is the only way that works. 

It's not. Whether you edit now or you edit later doesn't really matter all that much. But the one truth that remains one hunderd percent written in stone is this: If you want people to read your book. EDIT IT.