Plotters vs. Pantsers

In the eternal debate about what is the best way to write, two terms have come into common usage: plotter and pantser. Plotters are the planners, the outliners, the writers that like everything in place before they write a single word. Pantsers (called so because they “fly by the seat of their pants”) are those who leap into the void, writing their way into and out of situations without a map. Despite the exclusivity of the terms, there are few, if any, writers who are purely one or the other. Most plotters do some improvisation, at least when writing scenes…