The Pantser Resolution

“Life brings you a bold and dashing adventure.”

hiking

You know, I thought of myself as a plotter and not a pantser when writing stories. After completing a number of manuscripts now, I realize that I’m more unstructured than I thought. Sure, I still do research and have a general idea of where the story’s going. Nonetheless, my characters always surprise me and act in ways that I never thought they would. Endings also tend to shift around for me, based on the protagonist’s unforeseen actions.

Since I’m owning up to my pantser personality, I figured I’d transfer that attitude over to my New Year’s Resolution. Every time I’m pretty good about sticking to my goal in the first few months and then the determination falters. In the past, I’ve tried specific aims or even a condensed one-word resolution. This year, I’m going to embrace my pantser side. I’ll relish in the fact that:

Do you have a resolution for the next year?

Foodie Friday First: Frog Legs
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Comments

  1. I don’t set resolutions, but I try to flesh out a few broad goals. If I reach them, great. If I don’t, I don’t beat myself up about it. As you point out, life throws too many curves to plan out everything. Good thing, too, because that’s what keeps it fresh.

  2. Veronica Roth says

    Yup, I start off being a plotter and that very quickly dissolves into the pants version. :D But I love it. I love my projects taking on their own life. Actually, I can’t eve say plotter first because sometimes I tend to do the “as the cell divides” method. (Which might be a unique concept to me, but involves making a mark, then a mark beside that, and then beside that and so on…you get the picture.) This year I joined a FB group for the hellofit, called “find your word 2015” run by Sussanah Conway (Here, this girl: http://www.susannahconway.com) It was a fun little group (but now I’m bored lol), but I thought about the word “ameliorate” . You know, not radical, change everything and freak out, but just small changes in everything for the better. I think I might paint in and stick it up somewhere and look at it over 2015. Other than that, I always have the same resolution: to stop running out of time and start running into it instead. :D Big hugs for the New Year to you and your family. And good riddance to the old; I’m so ready to bury 2014 in the dust.

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