The Irony

Hello Readers,

Welcome back to my author's blog, Happy DETours.

I know I've mentioned this in blogs before that there are basically two types of writers. The Plotter and the Pantser.

As you can guess, the plotter (planner) is a writer who plots out or plans every aspect of their story. They will develop outlines and notes of the entire story from start to finish. They may also write out characters; their strengths, weaknesses, their motivations, and even their back story. Plotters/Planners know where the story starts, where it is headed and how it will end.

The other type, the Pantser, writes like they are flying by the seat of their pants. That's me. As a Pantser, I have a general idea of the story I want to write and the characters that drive the story but I do not plot it out ahead of time. In fact, several times the characters will guide me on the choices they should make in the moment. I do want to mention, that although I'm a pantser, I also write contemporary fiction. That means I do a lot of research. A LOT OF RESEARCH. Locales, environment, culture, languages, sports and businesses.

Examples of my Pantser method is evident in both my YA novels, Pretend and [Solace] (the working title of my companion novel to Pretend). Without giving any spoilers, I will give you one example in each book.

In Pretend, the example is my character, Sarah. That's it. Just Sarah. Her character arc was going to be completely different from what was published. When I first developed her, I thought her personality would be one way BUT... she had a different idea. And if you know Sarah, she always gets her way. *lol

In [Solace], the example comes in Chapter 20. I saw the scene going one way but the characters were telling me it needed higher stakes. So, I did a thing... and it blew the minds of my beta readers during their first read through of my manuscript. *eek

With all the fabulous feedback, awards, accolades and positive reviews, I know being a Pantser is my mode of writing. I like letting the story breathe. Allowing it to ebb and flow as I facilitate the characters' whims and struggles.

Now for the irony.

A few weeks ago, I attended a live writer/author conference online. It was the second time I have attended their conference and it was wonderful, again. I learned so much, got tons of useful information and made awesome connections with fellow authors. The conference also held amazing giveaways that attendees could try to win. The Grand Prize was a year long subscription to the online writing program called Plottr. Guess who won?

Yup. That'd be me. The Pantser won the Grand Prize plotting tool. *smh

I couldn't write this twist better if I tried. I literally laughed out loud when I got the email exclaiming I was the grand prize winner. I finally got my account all set up (I'm very tech challenged so it took me a hot minute or twenty) and opened up the app. The vast amount of resources and templates at my fingertips was a bit overwhelming. I'm still wading my way through all the options and settings but I will get there. I'm hoping before the year trial is up. *lol

I'm excited to learn some different ways to prep my writing and storytelling. I look forward to trying out all the features and then maybe using some of them as I do research for future novels.

Hey, you never know, maybe I'll end up a Plantser! Or would that be a Plotser?

Happy DETours,

Jenn