PRODUCT REVIEW: Werther’s Original CaraMelts: soft creamy caramels that melt in your mouth! Result: blech.

I’ve made a shocking self-discovery: I’m NOT a pantser. This means I don’t write by the seat of my pants.

I’m not a plotter, either. Filling out charts or blank spaces on character interviews do absolutely nothing for me.

I’ve decided I’m a third category of writer, a combination of the two. A pantsotter. Or, perhaps, a plotanter? Whatever. I need to figure out who my characters are, what my book’s about and how it progresses. I don’t need to carve out every nuance of the plot, but I do need to know how it starts, how it ends and—especially—what conflicts are going to drive the plot from one point to the next.

One method I’ve discovered to help me plan but not plan can be found on Holly Lisle’s website. (www.hollylisle.com) Look for her links to plotting under pressure and using notecards. It’s a great method if you think you’re a plotanter (or a pantsotter), too.

So...what do you think? What kind of writer are you?