What other kinds of writers are there besides plotters and pantsers?
In a comment to an answer of mine Mark Baker has suggested that the common, dichotomous view of writers as either "plotters" or "pantsers" or something of both might not be complete and that there are other types of writers.
In their extreme forms, plotters, or outliners, as they are sometimes called, construct the plot, develop the characters, and/or build their fictional world before they begin to write and during writing follow this preconceived plan, while pantsers, or discovery writers, simply sit down with no more than a seed of an idea or even no idea at all and let the story, characters, and world unfold in the process of writing. Most writers fall somewhere in between these two extremes, outlining or developing a bit and discovering the rest.
But does this description cover all kinds of writers? Is it feasible, as I did, to group worldbuilders and plotters together, or are they fundamentally different in their approach?
What other kinds of writers are there besides plotters and pantsers?
Is there a better classification of writers that that dichotomous one?
I would appreciate answers that give real life examples of writers who have described their writing process, or that cite established sources such as scholars that have studied the writing process. Please do not post mere speculation or (only) your own experience in an answer.
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You can set yourself a problem and then set out to solve it. Similar to how a modern composer might choose a 12 tone row and then start working with it. When you do this, as you play with your row, you manipulate it and transform it. For example, you might define certain characters or a certain conflict, and then put your characters on the chess board together and see what happens. And let's remember that a place can also be a character. Your plot can be subservient to figuring out, and demonstrating, who your characters are.
You can set yourself a goal, i.e. set up a milestone (that might end up being the midpoint or the endpoint, etc.) and then start writing towards it, either forwards or backwards or both.
You can have something in mind, such as a certain nostalgic feeling, or a feeling of magical realism, or a soothing feeling of keeping to a predefined formula (that is defined based on other elements besides just plot), or a certain type of silliness, or some stepping stones that you want to visit, etc., etc., and then try this and that to achieve what you're aiming for.
You could in principle set up a challenge for yourself of a certain prescribed omission. Like a movie from a while back, whose name I can't remember, in which a main character never appeared in a scene.
You could start with an unexpected combination of clichés and see where it gets you.
Those are just a few ideas that occur to me about the infinite number of ways you can set out the elements you wish to work with.
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I suggest we also have "The Expander"
You asked for something other then "Plotters" or "Pantsers". I would venture to offer the "Expander". An author who writes notes and even entire unpublished stories about off screen characters that they never intend to do more than refer to in a few short throwaway lines. (Or sometimes mean to come back to but either struggle or fail utterly at the return)
3 examples:
David Eddings
He described his (& Leigh's) writing style quite a bit.
He wrote several sweeping Fantasy epics - for the Young adult market.
IIRC He described in the forward to one of his books "The Rivan Codex" that he wrote a significant backstory, fleshed out quite a lot of the basic plotline - but the characters went their own way.
What I am suggesting is that one of the best writers of our age wrote a plot. Fleshed out some pretty significant backstory - and then found the story departed into a life of it's own. Largely following the plot outline the author had set but deviating in some specific points. Sufficiently that the already written backstory in some parts was now incorrect.
Another author I know - L E Moddessit - has stated he will sometimes write a backstory around a particular character who may never even appear directly in the story.
JRR Tolkien is perhaps the most famous example - some of the notes he made have now been published as "Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth" along with some other volumes.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26950. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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