SOPHIE LI

Happy Hump Day!

To the writers out there: Are you a planner or a pantser?

Planner = Plan everything chapter and every scene so that you know what exactly what you are going to write before you write it

Pantser = Start with an idea in your head, but largely, fly by the seat of your pants

Or… are you a plantser like me? (Plantser = the best of both worlds)

Though I like to have a general sense of where my story is going, what the major plot points are, how some scenes will pan out, I don’t know the specifics of each scene until I sit down and write it. If I think too much beforehand, I feel bored and uninspired when I am actually writing the scene. In other words, I kinda like making stuff up as I go along. For me, writing is more fun that way, and believe it or not, it turns out better.

An update on my writing: I am now a bit over 130K words, and about 90-95% of the way there (woohooo!!) Then I will be going back and cutting some scenes, since my novel is approaching epic fantasy length, except… epic fantasy, it is not :’)

Let’s go waaaaaayy back to the beginning for today’s snippet. Matt meets Olivia shortly after she moves in next door in their apartment building. Charlie races down the hallway off-leash, giving Matt a scare:

(Charlie = Olivia’s dog, Zelda = Matt’s daughter)

“Sorry about that,” She says, clipping a leash onto Charlie’s collar. “He likes to run.”

Matt looks at the beast with the eternal hunger burning in his eyes, subdued but undefeated.

Keep your dog on leash, he wants to say for his sake, for Zelda’s sake, for all their neighbours’ sake. What will happen when the ninety-year-old woman next door goes for her morning walk? He is fairly certain that she is blind.

He glances up at Olivia. He’ll say it.

“Oh. Um, I’m Olivia.” She says, extending her non-leash-holding hand. “I just moved in next door.”

He shakes her hand. He’ll have to say it. He’ll have to tell her what she doesn’t want to hear.

“It seems like everyone is really friendly in this building so far,” Olivia says with a chuckle. “Looks like Charlie and I will fit right in, won’t we, Charlie?” She reaches to scratch Charlie on the back of his ear.

Matt swallows. He feels his willpower caving in.

“Welcome,” he says instead. “That’s a cute dog.”

He wants to kick himself.

WIPpet Math: 10 paragraphs for October.

WIPpet Wednesdays is a blog hop where writers can share a snippet from their WIP. The only stipulation is that the excerpt is somehow related to the date. Be sure to check out some of the other lovely WIPpet snippets here. Thank you Emily Wrayburn for hosting.

How is your week going? Are you a planner, a pantser, or a plantser? Is there an ideal length for a manuscript?