We came across an interesting article that the New York Times bestselling YA Fantasy author and writing coach, Tomi Adeyemi, wrote some time ago. She was responding to questions from writers who said they struggled with creating plots and finishing their first drafts.
The article talks about two types of writers; “plotters” and “pantsers.”
She says, “Plotters are writers who spend time researching, plotting, and outlining their stories before they dig into the first draft. Instead of just writing when an idea strikes, they take the time to put their entire story in place before they write the first word.”
And pantsers? “Pantsers are on the opposite end of the writing spectrum. Instead of outlining their novel, they get a new story idea and start writing “by the seat of their pants.” (That phrase makes no sense to me, but you get the idea). Pantsers don’t take the time to outline or plan their story at all. They sit down and write as new ideas come to mind.”
Tomi writes that plotters tend to write faster and have polished first drafts since they spend so much time in their story, but gives pros and cons of both of these approaches to writing.
You can read the full article here: Two Ways to Finish Your First Draft.
About Tomi Adeyemi
Tomi is a Hugo and Nebula award-winning Nigerian-American writer and storyteller based in Los Angeles, CA. After graduating from Harvard University with an honors degree in English literature, she studied West African mythology, religion, and culture in Salvador, Brazil. Her first novel, Children of Blood and Bone, debuted at #1 on The New York Times Bestseller list and is being developed into a movie by Disney’s Fox & Lucasfilm. Its highly anticipated sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, also debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. In 2020, she was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media, and that same year was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people. She runs a coaching website for writers, The Writers Roadmap, which has been named one of the 101 best websites for writers by Writer’s Digest.
Author: Team VoW
Valley of Writers provides resources, tools, ideas and training for new writers. We work with a writers and contributors based around the world. Our primary focus is to equip new writers with skills to help them reach new audiences and achieve their goals.
