A plotting pantser?

Hi there! Nice to "see" you again!

This week I thought I'd talk about something odd I've been experimenting with lately: plotting. 

Yeah, I'm a pantser... and I've been plotting. I know, it's like saying a dog person decided to get a kitten instead of a puppy, or a baker decided to mural a wall rather than bake a cake... okay maybe not the second one so much, but still. 

I have a draft, a tiny, very spotty, barely-there draft. I knew my new book was going to be ten chapters long, with a prologue and an epilogue... so I sketched out (oh-so roughly) what I wanted to happen in each chapter. Only a sentence or two per-chapter, yet it is still, undeniably a draft, and I have NEVER done that before. 

So, three BIG questions remain: Why did I do this? How is it working out? And, perhaps most critically; Would I ever do this again? Let's dig into that, shall we?

1. Why did I decide to plot, as a pantser.

So, there are two main types of authors in this world, plotters, and pantser... (who "write by the seat of their pants") aren't there? Can you be both? Not as far as I know. And I am still such a pantser, but one of the biggest downsides of being a pantser is rarely having more than a vague concept of where I am going with a story, with the exception of some specific scenes or character moments, I know I want to include. I was hoping, by drafting, in a simple, abstract, flexible manner, that I could have my cake and eat it too. 

2. How is it working out?

With this idea in mind, I sketched out my basic outline, and as I've been going I have been utilizing what I call "micro-drafting" I've talked about this before but in case you missed that, it's basically just including simple notes about what I want to happen next, (and after that, and so on) like a draft, but far simpler and looser. 

All in all, it's been... interesting. Due to the outline, I've been able to format chapters as I write, rather than going back later, and trying to figure out where to stick the chapter breaks, and it has been amazing to have a basic concept of what is happening next when I face a fresh chapter. 

But I wouldn't be much of a pantser if I just followed an outline, now, would I? I have ended up flipping things around more times than I can count. "This should be here," and "this would make more sense if I put it here" have become common thought processes, and I'm not even finished with my first draft yet! I'm currently facing a chapter that lost its outline, because ALL the material I had planned for it, ended up making more sense elsewhere, so I have an even better chapter planned now... that I now have to backtrack and do additional research for.

3. Would I ever do this again?

Considering all the pluses and negatives, I can honestly say that I would absolutely do this again! No hesitation, and no major changes on what I'm already doing. It's not perfect, but it really has helped more than I can possibly hope to explain here. 

Bonus question: Am I secretly a plotter in pantser-clothes? 

Nope, just an author, trying her best to figure out this whole writing thing, through endless trial and error. 

That's it for me for this week! Are you a plotter or a pantser? Would you ever try out the opposite style of writing? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day, and keep writing!