Get Crazy, Baby

Upon my wall, among the endless array of scraps of both paper and wisdom, one quote reigns supreme. I have long since lost the author’s name, of course, so please don’t anyone sue me. It reads:

There is no perfect time to write; there is only now.

There is no perfect time to write? Surely if you light the requisite number of candles, put on the perfect music, keep your space uncluttered and pay off the requisite number of children to find a quiet pastime in the opposite end of the house, surely that will leave you with the perfect time to write.

Does that not depend upon which type of writer you are?

Are you a plotter or a pantser? (Not a pantster with two t’s, for wouldn’t that indicate you like to run about taking the pants off others?) A pantser, as most of you already know, is someone who sits in the chair and writes by the seat of his or her pants with very little thought ahead of time as to where the story might lead, from what source of conflict comes, etc., etc.

For those of you who plot, who find it difficult to sit down to write unless it is indeed the perfect time to write and the perfect journey has been laid before you, you may be missing a lively boat.

And for those of you who are pantsers who give yourself grief for not being a plotter, for needing to go back a few times over to restructure, etc., you may not be enjoying the lively boat in which you sit.

If you can take up a pen and paper, look around you and be completely inspired, I believe a panster will find a freedom a plotter cannot. If you can manage to let your muse wild for a bit, with no structure to control it, it will take you along for an incredible ride.

How long has it been since you have ridden?

Imperfect time to write coupled with an imperfect writer could very well produce the latest edge on which to cut a story.

If anyone can do it, we can.

Plotters, come over to the dark side. Pantsers, lighten up. That's it, really.

Ainsley