I like that idea: a running list. Thanks, Denise!

denise

I think it's particularly fascinating that you pants your novels, Jami, because you're known for your fantastic structure worksheets (among other things, like great novels). I have used them myself! But usually in revisions when I want to make sure everything's lining up alright.

And I agree with you that the other dichotomies might predict pantsing/plotting more clearly. It's just that the original study's authors did it with extraversion-introversion so I tackled that, also not knowing when I wrote this post whether anyone besides me would be interested in this stuff. Since they seem to be (yay!), I plan to write future posts on other personality traits and writing process! Thanks.

Interesting. I think sometimes when plotters think of pantsers, they think that means no structure. But a bit like you described, I definitely do structure...just more on the second draft than the first. It definitely goes big picture to detail for me as well.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Some writers have to really plan behind the scenes to deliver the best surprise they can to a reader!

Makes total sense, Anne! It's interesting that we don't really define plotting and pantsing much these days, particularly since plotting can range from some preplanning to detailed scene-by-scene outlines. That latter camp wouldn't work for a lot of writers!

That's an interesting distinction. I write both fiction and non-fiction and approach both nearly the same, with main points figured out but not much else. But I suspect not everyone does. I should look into that!

Aw, the straitjacket! Why do we do that to ourselves? I was glad that my own son, who declared he hated writing, had me to show him that he didn't hate writing. He loved informative writing, just didn't like the creative stuff. We do need to find our niches. Thanks, Kathy!

Yep. I've started to believe some of my favorite people to hang out with are my own fictional characters. Not sure what that says about me... 😀