PFS2012 Author Guest Post: Maria V. Snyder + Giveaway

Maria has quickly become one of my favorite authors ever! It began with TOUCH OF POWER back in January and since then I've also read her Poison Study series, which is just so amazing! When she agreed to stop by the blog for the event, my reaction was unprecedented--and kind of scary. Maria's going to talk to you today a little bit about her writing!

Hello My Name is Maria and I’m a Pantser

I've been doing interviews for a number of years now and I'm often asked am I a Plotter or a Pantser. For those who don't know the writing slang, Plotters are writers who outline their novels before writing. They'll write a detailed outline that can span many pages and covers the plot of the entire story from start to finish, or they'll just have a one sentence synopsis for every chapter, or something in between. Either way, those writers are prepared before they sit down and write. Pantser is short for a “seat-of-the-pants” writer. These writers often only have a vague idea of what the story will be about when they sit down to write. They prefer to discover the story events as they write versus figuring it out ahead of time.

I've heard these classifications called different names. James Roy, an Australian author, calls them the Pioneers and the Settlers. And New York Times bestselling author, Tess Gerritsen, calls them the Waders and the Plungers.

I'm a Pantser/Pioneer/Plunger – I discover the story as I write. I'll start with an idea – like a healer on the run and I'll have a vague setting and some conflicts in mind. I may throw in a few interesting tidbits – like giant man eating flowers called Death Lilys and then I plunge right in and see what happens. With most of my books, I have a ending in mind that I strive toward (I don't always end up there). I also have to write a synopsis for my editor to approve the project. Good thing my editor knows that the story will not follow the synopsis past the first couple of paragraphs :).

The fun part of being a Pantser is when a character or plot twist surprises me. I figure if I'm surprised, my readers will be too. Also I'm never dead set about a specific thing happening in my story. If the story takes an unusual turn, that's fine with me. I also do my research while writing the book because I often don't know what I need to research.

The downside is the actual writing time takes longer (I've heard die hard Plotters say the writing goes faster for them after their outline is written), and there's always the danger of hitting a dead end and having to go back and re-do certain sections. Another worry is I won't have enough story to write to novel length. Even after writing 10 books, I'll still spend the first half of the novel worried I don't have enough, then about half way through I start worrying I have too much. So far, I've wrapped everything up at 100K words. And no, just because it worked the previous 10 times, doesn't mean it'll work the eleventh time. Although when I hit a rough patch, I don't freak out as much as I used to. ;)

This works for me, but there wouldn't be this question of style if one way worked for everyone. Some writers do a combination of both. And if you're just starting out as a writer, you might not know what is going to work for you yet. Feel free to experiment, just don't let anyone tell you one way is better than another – 'cause the world needs both Pioneers and Settlers.

Has anyone heard of another term for these? What works for you? Any hybrids out there?

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Another great thing about Maria's stop today is she's giving away something pretty special! EVERYONE can enter to win a signed copy of the bind-up for her INSIDE series! So enter now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The world of Inside is simple. Do your job, stay out of the way and don't dream of anything better. Because as every Scrub knows, there are no other options.

Until Trella—the Queen of the Pipes, as some call her—gets involved with a revolution that will rock her world….

Trella was just doing a favor for a friend—her only friend. Hiding an injured man from the Pop Cops seemed easy enough—though dangerous. But then she discovered that the myths of Outside might be real….

Being Inside's hero only left Trella with more work. Ducking those responsibilities, she continued to explore her stark world—and found something she never expected. Strangers. From Outside…

You can find Maria on her Goodreads | Website | Blog | Facebook!

Make sure to stop by later today for a guest post and giveaway of THE FALSE PRINCE by Jennifer Nielsen!!
Find out what happened the first week of Paranormous Fantastival and enter to win some amazing prize packs!
Find out what happened the second week and stay updated!
Don't forget to check out last week's schedule as well!
And, lastly, stop by this final week's schedule to find out what's going to happen leading up to the event wrap-up!

Thank you so much, Maria, for your fascinating thoughts! Comment down below if you're a pantser, a plotter, or, you know, just a reader? xD