Dec 30 2008
Are You a Planner or Diver?
Writers come in different packages. Some would not write a word unless they have the material planned to the minutest detail. The research must be done, facts and figures double-checked and everything else needed for the writing must be at hand.
You have a planner here.
The second type of a writer also does his homework before beginning a writing project. But his planning is not as in-depth as the planner. He’s ready to go after gathering the minimum amount of material. Long planning makes him uneasy. He wants to get into the momentum of writing at the earliest opportunity. He just makes some notes and is ready to go.
If he needs to add extra information, he takes a break from writing, go into the research mode and gets back to writing as soon as he finds the necessary material.
Then there’s the writer who believes in no planning at all, who believes planning will stifle his writing momentum. He looks at the topic, spends a few moments thinking and is ready to go. Here is a diver.
He writes away without worrying about what is to come. He doesn’t fear wasting words on paper. Words doesn’t cost him anything. He uses as many as he likes.
He doesn’t really expect to go anywhere in his writing. In fact, he’s ready to go where his writing takes him. He is sure his writing will take him somewhere worthwhile. He begins writing with this belief.
Usually, he ends up writing long pieces and it will not be long (if he knows his subject) before he hits the bull’s eye and take off from there. Then all he has to do is cross out what’s not needed and retain the relevant parts.
In my twenty years as a writer and editor, I’m often asked which is the best among the three methods is. I have no concrete answer.
It depends on the writer and the writing project. I have used all three methods at one time or another.
If I am writing a technical piece where I’ve to get the facts and figures correct, I would want all the material at hand before I begin.
When I’m writing on a subject which I’m familiar with but have no in-depth knowledge, I get started with what I have and later fill in the gaps with research as I go.
Yes, I also write without a concrete plan. I’ve done that for the most part of my career as a fiction writer. You just have a general idea about a character and his goal or a sticky situation he or she is caught in and you take off from there and see where it all ends up.
This freewriting method also comes in handy when you’re writing a direct personal experience piece. Say for instance, if you’re writing an ebook entitled, How I made a Million Dollars on the Internet in Seven Days, you would not want to plan to the last detail what you’re going to say. You would just want to go with the flow because the material is all there in your head.
Whether you should be a planner or diver or somebody in between, depends on your temperament and nature of your writing project.
Keep experimenting to determine which method works for which project.
