Writing Prompts & Tips

Tip: To Plan or Not to Plan?

Before writing comes planning what you're writing. There's many methods of doing this, so each writer needs to choose the one that works best for them. Here are a few:

The Pantser: This method is literally "flying by the seat of your pants." You decide on the specifics and characters as you go. Some make notes as they go of what they're writing and what they want to happen next. Writers sometimes have a lot of the story in their mind and prefer to simply write the story instead of planning ahead.

General Planning: This method doesn't go too deep into the story and leaves a lot of room for changes down the road. For this method, writers plan out the general plot and make a list of characters with a couple of their defining traits.

Detail-Oriented: This method delves deep into the story. Some writers that use this method make an outline detailing what's in each chapter. More often, though, this method is completely plotting out the story and figuring out each character before starting the first draft of the story. Some writers choose to only describe the characters (at times including a physical description), while others choose to get deep into their characters' minds. If you choose do to do this, writing a short and simple backstory from their point of view can be helpful.

Whether you choose to use one of these methods or find your own style that works the best for you, we hope your next story is the one you're the most proud of!