Have you ever looked at another writer’s process and wondered if you’re doing it right? There is a lot of debate about plotters vs. pantsers… so who is actually correct? Should you meticulously outline everything, or dive head-first into writing? Or maybe you should find a balance between the two…

This post is the first in a mini-series about the different writing processes and how they work. So if you heard some of these terms before, and you’re not sure which category you fall into, perhaps this will help you find your own writing process.

If you do already know which one you are, this series might give you a better understanding of how to write. And it can also help you to understand other writers whose processes might look different from yours.

First, I want to define some terms:

A plotter is someone who outlines—or plots—their story from start to finish before they begin to write it. These are the type of writers who hit all of the plot points and story beats, and they are usually familiar with some kind of story structure (the most common being the 3-Act structure).

A pantser is someone who writes “by the seat of their pants.” In other words, they just start writing and go where the story takes them. Often, pantsers will have a few scenes or story elements in their head, and they connect those dots together as they write.

Lastly, there are the plantsers. These are hybrids of the plotters and pantsers, and they’re on a spectrum rather than extremes like the other two. Plantsers usually plot out some things but dive into writing sooner than plotters do. However, they still stick to some kind of outline, differentiating them from pantsers.

In the coming weeks, I’m going to be explaining each writing process, as well as how this knowledge can help you as a writer. And if you’ve heard these terms before and are just curious about what they are, stick around… by the end of this series, hopefully you will have found answers to your questions.

Two weeks from now, I will probably be posting something different (you’ll have to wait and see what it is), but then I will be back after that with the next post in this series.

Comment below your thoughts on the different writing processes!