Authors talk about this in every author group I belong to – a plotter is someone who plots the outline of a story, knows the characters and where they’re going and even knows the ending, whereas a pantser “writes by the seat of their pants”, sits at their computer each day and waits for the magic to happen.
I’ve thought on this often and have decided that I’m a bit of both. I do have vivid ideas for a story, I know where I want it to go and how it will end. All of which makes me a plotter.
But! When I sit at my laptop my characters are inclined to take over and often the story goes in a completely different direction to where I thought it was going. This happened to me a lot during the writing of the Madeleine series and I often sat back in surprise when something happened that I wasn’t expecting. Some scenes I ended up deleting, most I kept.
So yes, I am a bit of both, although maybe more of a pantser. I can finish several hours work then walk away from my laptop with no idea what happened nor where I go next, my carefully thought out plot now useless. Although I think that makes writing all the more fun!
Sadie Conall 