Lately, since we were working on the Crown Sonnet and since a friend of mine is working on a short story, she and I have been discussing STYLE. I don't work the way she does. I just sit down and start typing and the quicker I can get 'In character the better'. I work in a kind of trance state. I don't PLAN unless its a form which requires a certain structure BUT I don't/didn't see prose as that? [
But to a big extend I was wrong!] I have been attending local writers groups and during the last one when mentioning this discord, another writer said there are 2 types of writers one is what's called an architect:
The architect is the one who plots things very thoroughly. He knows everything that happens before he begins. Obviously every writer should have an idea of what's going to happen in their story, but the architect has a better grip on the smaller details and subtleties between the characters.
It is beneficial because this style:
1. Knowing what's going to happen to the characters
2. Keeping the plot tight
3. Knowing what's going to happen between the characters
It's a a powerful approach, if you know what's going to happen down to the last detail it prevents you from overwriting the important scenes--rather, the slow parts and the dramatic parts.
And I am a gardener:
The gardener is the one who will allow things to flow in a more spontaneous manner. He knows what's going to happen in the big scenes, but the gardener allows subtleties and relationships to progress as he writes, rather than having them plotted out before hand.
The benefits of this style are:
1. Allowing for spontaneity
2. Perhaps allowing certain characters to grow in ways you didn't expect them
3. Allowing for you to head in a direction you didn't think you would
I think they also apply to which side of the brain you're dominant in - A gardener
would be more likely to write a CHARACTER DRIVEN PLOT - the character progresses until the story ends. [Right brained ]
An architect would be more likely to write a PLOT DRIVEN story!
Do you know which one YOU ARE?