Thursday, March 19, 2020

Pantsers and Plotters Which Are You (And Why It Matters)

Pantsers and Plotters Which Are You (And Why It Matters) Two Types of Writers: Plotters and Pantsers Writing has always been a passion for the UK-based former journalist Amanda Wills, who now works part-time as a police press officer. Her latest book, Flick Henderson and the Deadly Game, was published in December last year, with a cover design courtesy of Reedsy artist Rachel Lawston. In this article, she talks about two types of writers, Plotters and Pantsers, and the pros and cons of both. Plotter or PantserDo you plan your novel to the nth degree before you type a single word, or do you sit at your computer, take a deep breath and fly by the seat of your pants? If the former, you’re a Plotter; if the latter, you’re a Pantser. Plotters plan novels to the nth degree. Pantsers fly by the seat of their pants and just write. We all know there are pros and cons to both. Knowing exactly what’s coming next means that Plotters are less likely to suffer from writer’s block. They also tend to write faster and more efficiently. Pantsers, on the other hand, have the freedom to let their characters take control, which can be both terrifying and exciting at the same time.I should say now that I am your typical Pantser. Don’t get me wrong, I am in awe of writers who spend months plotting scenes on timelines and building detailed biographies for their characters. When I start a book, I know how it begins, and I normally know how it’s going to end. It’s just the bit in the middle that’s, shall we say, fluid. I then spent about a week playing a kind of story jigsaw, rearranging the scenes until Kate’s disappearance became the main plot and the disappearing pets became the sub-plot.This kind of low-tech approach might not be for everyone, but it worked for me. It helped me spot continuity problems and holes in the story. It became blindingly obvious where I needed more action, and where I needed to slow the pace down.And once I had the scenes in the right order it was a pretty straightforward task to reassemble them on my Word document.Flick Henderson and the Deadly Game was released both as a paperback and ebook this past December, nearly three years after I had that first seed of an idea.Do I regret not plotting the book properly in the first place? Probably. I’m sure it would have saved a lot of time. I’ll definitely use the giant word jigsaw approach again. Being able to play with scenes in such a tangible way was immensely useful.Will I spend weeks planning every scene, every plot point, every nuance, every character arc, before I start writing my next book? Probably not. I’m a Pantser by nature. But one thing I have learned is that a little planning goes a long way.So that is exactly what I plan to do. As a writer, I'm a Pantser. But I've learned that a little planning takes  your book  a long way. Flick Henderson and the Deadly Game is available on Amazon in paperback and on Amazon Kindle!Are you a Plotter or a Pantser? Or, like Amanda, have you found a way to straddle both styles of writing? Let us know, and leave any thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Amanda in the comments below.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

What the President Does on the Last Day in Office

What the President Does on the Last Day in Office The peaceful transition of power from one United States president and his administration to another is one of the hallmarks of American democracy. And much of the publics and medias attention on January 20th every four years rightly focuses on the incoming president taking the Oath of Office and the challenges that lie ahead. But what does the outgoing president do on his last day in office? Heres a look at five things almost every president does just before leaving the White House. 1. Issues a Pardon or Two   Some presidents show up at the White House bright and early for a ceremonial last walk through the historic building and to wish their staff well. Others show up and get to work issuing pardons. President Bill Clinton used his last day in office, for example, to pardon 141 people including Marc Rich, a billionaire who had been indicted on charges of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service, mail fraud, tax evasion, racketeering, defrauding the U.S. Treasury and trading with the enemy. President George W. Bush also issued a couple  of pardons in the last hours of his presidency. They  erased the prison sentences of two border patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug suspect. 2. Welcomes the Incoming President Recent presidents have hosted their eventual successors on the last day in office. On Jan. 20, 2009, President Bush and  First Lady Laura Bush hosted President-Elect Barack Obama and his wife, as well as Vice President-Elect Joe Biden, for coffee in the Blue Room of the White House  before  the noon  inauguration. The president and his successor then traveled together to the Capitol in a limousine for the inauguration. 3. Leaves a Note for the New President Its become a ritual for the outgoing president to leave a note for the incoming president. In January 2009, for example, outgoing President George W. Bush wished incoming President Barack Obama well on the fabulous new chapter he was about to begin in his life, Bush aides told The Associated Press at the time. The note was tucked into a drawer of Obamas Oval Office desk. 4. Attends the Inauguration of the Incoming President The outgoing president and vice president attend the swearing-in and inauguration of the new president and then are escorted from the Capitol by their successors. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies describes the outgoing presidents department as being relatively anti-climatic and unceremonious. The 1889 Handbook of Official and Social Etiquette and Public Ceremonies at Washington described the event this way:   His departure from the Capital is attended with no ceremony, other than the presence of the members of his late Cabinet and a few officials and personal friends. The President leaves the Capital as soon as practicable after the inauguration of his successor. 5. Takes a Helicopter Ride Out of Washington Its been customary since 1977, when Gerald Ford was leaving office,  for the president to be flown from the Capitol grounds via Marine One to Andrews Air Force Base for a flight back to his hometown. One of the most memorable anecdotes about such a trip came from Ronald Reagans ceremonial flight around Washington on Jan. 20, 1989, after he left office. Ken Duberstein, Reagans chief of staff, told a newspaper reporter years later: As we hovered for a second over the White House, Reagan looked down through the window, patted Nancy on her knee and said, Look, dear, theres our little bungalow.  Everybody broke down in tears, sobbing.