Types of writers
July 26, 2016 12:13 am | by JW Haney | Posted in Blogs
First and foremost, a discloser: I don’t know shit, I’m unpublished. I am an unknown with no formal education in any area of literature. Still reading, good.
“What type of writer are you?”
“I don’t know. Does it even really matter?”
At first I thought, no. It does not matter. I write and that should be good enough. But now, after a few years of failing under my belt, I am thinking maybe it does. If I understand why type of writer I am than I can better filter all of the advice that is out there. Because when I am in doubt, I go off googling for validation. And there is no shortage of advice about what writers should do, how to become a better writer, and how to write a better novel. And so I thought if I had a better understand of what type of writer I am then I can better filter out the advice that does not really apply to me. I can listen to advice of people who have similar styles and pay less attention to everyone else.
From what I have learned writers fall under two categories.
The first category is “Do you plot?” At one end is the hardcore plotter. This person will work out all the details, lay out every scene in great detail, create personality profiles for all the characters, complete design the story before writing a single word. At the other end is the non-plotter. A person who sits down and write, just wander off in the direction the story takes them.
The second category is “who do you write for?” At one end is someone who writes to a specific group of people. I write for educated German males ages 48 – 49 who only breast fed from the left nipple. And at the other end is someone who just writes for themself. I write to entertain me.
If you combine those two categories, you get something that might look like this:
So, what type of writer are you? Where would you stick a pin on that circle? Where is your, you are here, pin.
(I should add a poll here)
My pin is in the blue, bottom left. I am a non-plotter who writes for myself. I write the stories I want to read. I start by just writing. I start out playing with a “this would be cool” scene or starting with “what if” to head off into uncharted area. And then for giggles, I write backwards to see where it leads.
Let me just add one more thing. I start out writing that way, with no plot and go off exploring. But after a while, when it looks like a story is forming, I will break way to do some plotting and character development. For a short while, because I will get bored with that and I go back to writing. But that is more about a process, when I am adapting what type of writer I am because I know that plot is important and I know character development is important and I know design is important. All because I want to be a better writer, I want to create a better product. And most importantly, I want to learn the craft.
Thanks for read my scribble.
Peace and Love