A Plotter Sitting By The Edge
A pantser writes by the edge of their seat.
In fact, I did it for a whole year, thinking that sitting by the edge would give the gravity more access to my creative juices and help them flow more. The only problem was I didn’t realize I wanted them to flow towards the laptop on the table in front of me, not the floor below.
So, when I signed up for NaNoWriMo, pledging by me heart to write as much as I can, I decided to change my strategies too. After all, NaNo is like a fight with yourself as a writer and it’s good to enter the battlefield with a foolproof plan.
I sat (not by the edge of my seat) and rubbed my palms together, preparing myself for the tedious amount of plotting I had to do, but determined nonetheless. I laid out everything I would need–pen, pencil, paper, highlighters, midliners, color pens, eraser, ruler, sharpener, scissors, graph sheets, a sketch pad and a life. Except for one thing–ideas.
That cyan blue color of the NaNo badge stared at me from the laptop screen, motivating me to think, think and think.
Ideas hit me so hard, they almost knocked me out. Names for my characters flowed so smoothly, their backstories followed them closely, their appearances painted in my mind and all the dots connected perfectly. I was ready to send out my story for editing, beta-reading or even publishing. I was happy and satisfied.
Now I’d to only get it on paper.
But there are five more days for NaNo, I can always start on the first of November. I thought and winded up the day to get a peaceful sleep.
God knows what happened to my brain over night.
When I woke up, a new set of ideas for the same story line hit me. Now, the names changed, plot twists revamped and everything took a 180 turn from the last night’s plotting.
It’s been going on till now. Three days left for NaNo and I keep plotting something completely new everyday. Maybe it’s the pantser trait in me that won’t go away.
Now I plot by the edge of my seat.
I’m a proven planster now.
Are you a plotter or a panster? Or both?