Paws and Prose: What Type of Writer Are You?

When I was still studying Creative & Professional Writing at the University of Derby, we discussed different types of writers. I would like to share my view on different types of writers with you. This interlinks with NaNoWriMo’s own ideas about writer types. Nanowrimo is a challenge to write 50k words in November, which I had participated in last year. You can read about my NaNoWriMo participation here.

So what writer types are there? Well, both my university and NaNoWriMo agreed there were three main types. Plantser, Planner and Pantser. The three Ps. On the service, we can probably only work out what the planner type is by looking at the words, so let us delve deeper into all three of them.

Planner

This is self-explanatory. A Planner writer is someone who plans every part of their story. They will have notes and notes and notes of content before they even start to write.

This type of writer will have documents or notes that will never be used in the story they are writing but was needed for the writer to understand where the story was going. This writer would also have character profiles, in-depth, sometimes with visual images and aides. They’ll have a list of things that are important to the story, locations, names… all before the first sentence of the book.

If they get stuck in a section of the story, they will be fine because their extensive notes will help them out. It’s not that they never get stuck, it is just that they know what is meant to happen next.

If I am absolutely honest, I have no idea how someone can do that! I am not a planner. My Masters’ course tried to be this type of writer, but it is not my style and so it did not work.

Pantser

A pantser is someone who writes while in the zone. They don’t make notes in their very first draft. They see where their fingers or their pen takes them as they put the words down on paper. They listen to their character’s inner voices without getting drowned into the research and detailed plan of each character, location and object, to begin with.

This type of writer feels as if they can connect and journey into their character’s world and see what it is. Really feel the mood and atmosphere that the story is as if they live and breathe it themselves. For them, they may be at a messy desk, with a cup of hot beverage, but their mind is in the world they created, following the characters as they react to their environment. Shocked and saddened and excited as they learn about the world in the same way their characters do.

This writer has a vivid mind’s eye, it is their strength. Their story is with them all the time: when they shower, when they sleep, when they eat. They can see the character do things in their mind eye that they will write down later (if they remember). A detailed plan would really restrict this writer’s creativity.

Plantser

A Plantser is somewhere in the middle. And I am going to say it is probably a spectrum. One Plantser will be different from another as they slide closer towards planner or Pantser.

The Plantser-Planner type

This type of writer might write a brief outline, and a few small details about their characters before they start. Then they will start to free-write, have discovered something in the text, and make a note of it to bring it out more in the story. They plan as they write, rather than staying in the zone. They add more details once they know more about the story from the text they have already.

This kind of writer, in other words, simultaneously plans and writes—improving both as time goes on. The plan and the story both have increased detail through each edit. You can say this writer edits frequently.

The Plantser type

Similarly, a Plantser might plan a rough outline before they start. They could go the other way and write before outlining and then plan when they get stuck. The middle Plantser won’t try and simultaneously plan and write, instead, they will do bouts of both but only when needed.

This might be because a character has gotten themselves in a situation that free-writing struggles to help resolve, or the next part of the story is complex that a plan will help it run smoothly.

They may try and do this using mind-maps, or jotting down what they know, jotting down ideas. It won’t be in paragraphs of any detail.

The plantser-pantser type

This person will undoubtedly write first. Their first draft is often smaller than their wanted end result; perhaps bordering on a Novellette. But they will use this version as an outline for their story. Essentially, their first draft becomes their outline plan.

They will take note of what they like and what they don’t and adjust the story accordingly. They may add ideas on how to improve, start creating character profiles and even write index cards on what they can add to improve the story. This person will have a strong mind’s eye like a pantser.

What writer type are you?

I hope you found this interesting, I have also created a quiz for you to see what type of writer tye you are. Let me know what you think in comments.

Don’t worry about the name, I could not take it off, but use a character name, like Tywin Lannister, if you wish.

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