Do Instinctive Writers Exist?

[Lorelliad]

Not sure if instinctive's the correct term for it, but I consider myself one. Anyway, in my terms, it's a writer who simply writes. No thinking beforehand, no planning. Everything comes to them while they write.

Every time I get on my phone, the moment I open Docs, and the keyboard pulls up, every word just comes to mind. If I were to liken it to something, it would be the sensation of multiple jigsaw pieces just fitting into place constantly. It's exhilarating. It's probably why I started writing.

Just curious if anybody else is like this

 

[Deleted member 113259]

Yeah.

 

[SailusGebel]

Pantser?

 

[Lorelliad]

Pantser?

Hmm?

 

[Tyranomaster]

I am not, but I'd say the majority of writers on here are.

 

[Stealthy_Enigma]

Me!!!

Speaking of, I should probably get back to writing before any antsy readers start harassing me.

Gotta run!

(✿;≧∇≦;)

 

[SailusGebel]

Hmm?

Not sure if instinctive's the correct term

Are you talking about pantser writers?

 

[Lorelliad]

Are you talking about pantser writers?

Oh, so that's the term. Probably :3

Me!!!

Speaking of, I should probably get back to writing before any antsy readers start harassing me.

Gotta run!

(✿;≧∇≦;)

Harass them back

 

[Story_Marc]

As said, that's pantsing, aka discovery writing.

Here, I have a bit more commentary about it for those who are interested in why people do it.

 

[Sebas_Guzman]

100 % pantsing.
The other side of the spectrum is plotters.

 

[sanitylimited]

i dont plan because id never get past the planing stage. and converting a planned out story into a story is far too boring and tedious

 

[Missivist]

Some writers historically have written a million words per year. One of them was "boys' story" writer Charles Hamilton, and another was a romance novelist who wrote something like 23 books per year. (Romance novels may be a bit thin: 55,000 words per book.) I doubt that they had any time for research or self-editing, so they were probably writing "by the seat of their pants": instinctive writing.

Hamilton wrote stories set in English boys' schools, and he used many pen-names. It would help that his audience of schoolboys would not be very critical of plot-holes or grammar mistakes. No research, no editing, just lotsa typing: an estimated 100,000,000 words in his lifetime.

There are still a number of romance novelists who write thousands of words in a few hours per day, and publish several books per year. Their reported productivity appears to be close to my typing speed, which suggests "seat of the pants" writing, with little room for research, advance planning, or even self-editing. Google "professional romance novelist words a day".

So, I figure the key to success as an instinctive writer is to have naturally good grammar so that you can write the way you speak, while working in a genre that lets you be very repetitive and requires no specialist knowledge. You have to make it up as you go along, but that should work well for cookie-cutter isekai stories, for example. Such a writer should be able to knock out a light novel every month or two.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

My journo bro is a panzer I mean, pantser.

I, on the other hand, is a plane planner.

 

[Rhaps]

I know him, he's me. Its a double edge sword but fun to use.

 

[3guanoff]

Yes. Free your mind from the shackles mate and let the ideas flow.

 

[K5Rakitan]

We call that "stream of consciousness" if you don't do any editing on it.

 

[Succubiome]

I'm pretty closer to pantser.

I do a bit of daydreaming about possible directions for the story, have a general plan for the next chapter but not usually much further, and don't usually do more than a single editing pass.

 

[Temple]

Pantser, gardener, discovery writer, there are many terms for them.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

I am one.

 

[doravg]

As some have already said, you are a pantser. I am one too! Hope you are having a wonderful day!