I learned some new terms while learning more about the writing world. Two that stuck out were "pantsers" and "plotters" (or "planners").
Some authors write by the seat of their pants. These "pantsers" have an idea or concept of their story but use their intuition and subconscious to write it out. On the plus side, you get started quickly and feel/see progress; from what I understand, this process also helps with writer's block. On the negative side, it could be less efficient and often requires rework when adding, removing, or modifying story elements.
"Plotters" or "Planners" prepare outlines before they start their story. They work out all (or most) of the story before they write. There is often a high upfront cost in time, but they can make it up in the writing stage.
I attended a workshop hosted by Martin Wilsey. He was gracious enough to answer some of my questions. I learned that he is a plotter who can write a novel quickly after spending about three days creating an outline (about 30 pages). Here is a link to his process:
https://wilseymc.blogspot.com/2016/04/tips-outline-hell-out-of-things.html
Some other well-known "plotter" authors include J.K. Rowling and John Grisham, while famous "pantsers" are Stephen King and Margaret Atwood.
Up to this point, I've been a pantser. I am not sure that is what I want, but I felt a lot of pressure to write, write, write. The thought process seems to be, "Just write if you want to be an author." That feels counter to my project management brain of "plan ahead," so I will attempt to outline "The Double Murder of Dr. Flynn."
The downside is that my daily word count will be zero until I finish the outline. I simply don't have the time to plot a story and write to random prompts to keep a daily word count.
We shall see how I feel and evaluate the return on investment.
Daniel
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