To plot or pant or pant while plotting; what a dilemma

Plan your writing or just jump in? Guest blogger, KD Emerson tells us which side of the fence is hers.

The Plan

The question “are you a plotser or a pantser” is the subject of my blog post this week. A pantser (for those who joined us late) is a writer that flies by the seat of their pants. ‘Grab the pen and off ya go,’ kind of author. Although I am a fan of this type of living from time to time, I would have to say as far as my writing goes I am more of a plotter – except when I’m not and on every third Thursday of the month. So as you can see by this

Flying by the Seat of your Pants

drivel I am mainly a plotser and sometimes a pantser.

From the moment I could breath I loved to plot things. I would plot how my first day of school would play out; I would plot a first date, a first kiss. Dialogue would run through my mind, descriptions of cities yet not explored, events yet to happen, and of course my many books that sat on a shelf in my mind until I would pull one down and begin to scribe them on paper (yes, I am THAT old).

“What if” has always been my favorite game. I love the creative process and love it most played with more than one player. I love to banter back and forth with an outside human to see what they might come up with that I haven’t yet thought about.

Many of my ideas were born during lectures or long diatribes on world history or science. My mind would race from one idea to the next as I listened to dates and famous names. I would think, ‘what if there was someone hiding in a closet listening to that king,’ or ‘what if there really was a time machine and Mr. Wifflewaffer climbed inside while cleaning the windows one night’.

All in all, I like to have a map – a general idea of where I am going, but then again I am happy to take a side trip if my characters really want to go to the state fair along the way.

Author, KD Emerson was born (or is that hatched) several years ago. We won’t go into how long it has been because she has this fantasy that she is still a teenager off to conquer the world. She has a passion for the written word and assisting other writers in becoming the best they can be. She also loves to promote others and cheer them on to victory. Follow her on twitter @MstrKoda or you can find her at www.masterkoda.com and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kimmutch.emerson

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