ARE YOU A PLOTTER OR A PLODDER?

ARE YOU A PLOTTER OR A PLODDER?

Are you one of those people who, prior to starting to write anything longer than a postcard, plans everything you’re going to say, when to say it and how it’s supposed to sound when its read?  How about the one who has a general idea of what they’re going to write, how it’s supposed to sound and where they plan to end?  Behind Door Number are the Plotters.  Door Number hides the Plodders.

I’m happy to say, I rest comfortably behind Door Number Two.  I get an idea for a new novel or screenplay and I massage it in my head for a while and when I’m ready, I sit down and begin the process.  To me, it’s like living in Miami and one day deciding to drive to Seattle.  I take a look at the map, maybe even do a Mapquest search and see what they recommend.  When I back out of my driveway in Miami, my destination….at that time…is Seattle. How I got there will be determined by looking back over my shoulder when I see the Welcome to Seattle sign. I will no doubt remember that wrong turn I took in Atlanta and how I had to backtrack all the way to Dallas from Oklahoma City. But I’ll also remember the character I met in Richmond when I had a flat tire. If you know anything about the US map, you can see I’m all over the place, but I did finish my journey in Seattle. Unless, of course, I changed my mind and wanted to finish in Anchorage. We Plodders can do that.  Plotters…not so much.

Don’t get me wrong.  There’s nothing wrong with either method.  It’s whatever works best for you and helps you get the job done. For me, plotting would take the mystery out of writing.  That’s not to say you can’t write a mystery if you plot, but my point is sometimes I sit down and have absolutely NO IDEA what I’m going to write about at the moment.  If it’s a novel, I’ll read over what I did the day before to catch up and then…who knows.  I find myself in some of the strangest situations that in my wildest imagination I never pre-planned.  I’m doing the third book in a mystery series now and today I found myself in a coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City talking to a priest.  Or at least I think he is a priest.  He hasn’t shared his background with me yet.  A Plotter would probably never meet him and if they did, they’d know where he went to college why he entered the priesthood and the age of his grandmother when she died.  If I need that info, I’m sure he will tell me before I leave and go to wherever it is the next day’s writing takes me.

I take writing very serious. I mean, how presumptions of us to think that someone actually cares about what we have to say and then to top it off, they spend time or money to find out what it is. We owe them their money’s worth.  If they come back for seconds, you know that your method works for you and them.  If they need a roadmap, give it to them.  If they want to ramble along the highways and byways with a Plodder like me, I say, “Welcome aboard.”  It’s like the airline pilot who came on the PA system as the plane was crossing the Pacific.  “I have good news and bad news.  The bad news is our navigation system is out and I have no idea where we are going.  The good news is we have a two hundred mile and hour tail wind and which means we’re going to get there in a hell of a hurry.”

Let the wind guide you to the destination, wherever it may be.  Now, if you’ll excuse me I have a solid gold razor I have to give to the Priest in my book.  Really….