Are you a plotter, or are you notta?

[Stephen Whiteside]

Broadly speaking, from what I can understand, there are two types of writers - those who 'plot', and those who don't. This applies principally to writers of stories, but I'm sure it also applies to poetry, especially bush poetry, much of which is also narrative in style.

'Plotters' spend a lot of time working out the plot to their stories before putting pen to paper. 'Non plotters' simply start with an idea, and see where it takes them as they write.

Related to this, I am sure, is the question of whether you write your poems in your head before committing them to paper. I used to be a 'head' writer and I used to be a 'plotter', but I've switched. I will often write the first verse in my head before sitting down to write, and sometimes have a bit more. Occasionally I will still write a short poem in my head before writing it down - mostly if I've gone for a long walk without any pen and paper.

Are you a 'plotter', or are you notta?

[Maureen K Clifford]

I'm a notta - write it as I think of it. Then if it is something that I think a bit important I will Google to make sure I've got the details right but other than that what you see is what you get. No go od writing in my head - I forget what I wrote before I can find the pen.

[Stephen Whiteside]

I have heard it said that Mozart often wrote entire symphonies in his head - including all the various instrumental parts - before even putting pen to paper. He must have had a pretty incredible head!

[Peely]

In my case I can say that I write both ways. Sometimes the storyline is there without the words to fit, so I find myself making notes on how I want the storyline of the narrative to flow. In those cases, I tend to make my notes as fairly simple dot points to give me a good amount of flexibility in building the poem.

Quite often though, I tend to start a poem and build it as I think of where I want to go. In that case, I can say that most of my poems are written from the top down - I have a clear beginning and keep on building to the end. Sometimes these beginnings can sit for a while, but once I have an idea in my head of where I want to go, the rest seems to come fairly quickly - it might be why I have so many works in progress at the moment (25+).

Sometimes the first fragments of a poem that come into my head aren't always from the beginning of the poem either, so I find myself writing a beginning and an end to match up with what I have written. Or I might have a beginning, a middle and an end and I might have to build the transitions in.

Occasionally, after starting a poem, without having a plot down I might get to a point where I can see where I want to go with it but due to time constraints I might just make brief notes of how I want to continue - in effect a hybrid of these two methods. One of the poems I finished recently was written this way.

As the old saying goes, "There is more than one way to skin a cat," and putting into context here, "There is more than one way to build a poem." The method that I use tends to depend on how strong the idea is in my mind at the time.

[Stephen Whiteside]

Yes, I can relate to that. Sometimes I begin with the last verse, but after writing the poem I realise the last verse doesn't fit any more!

There is definitely a limit to how much I can imagine - or hold in my head - at any one time, so I've found I can write more complex poems if I just relax and let them evolve as I write them. That said, though, it doesn't always work...

[David Campbell]

I'm with John...could be either, but probably with a leaning towards the "notta" end. My latest poem came simply from a title, the result of seeing a particular weather pattern at the beach. And a recent 3000-word story sprang from a phrase that came to mind out of nowhere in particular. Just liked the sound of it. That's why the computer is so brilliant...sit down with nothing but a few words and start writing! Erase, add, switch things around, experiment...a far cry from the old days when we were compelled to set out a detailed essay plan before starting. And, once we began writing, changes were difficult because of the inevitable inky mess. Scratch, scratch. Even after Baron Bich and Laszlo Biro did their thing and whiteout decorated each page.

Although I know from workshops that there are quite a few writers who still prefer to do all their developmental work with pen and paper.

Each to his (or her) own!

David

[warooa]

I love the idea of a story (or a poem) taking you somewhere, and you don't know where that somewhere is until you get there. Sometimes it works. Not always, but the journey is what it's all about - the destination is peripheral.

Marty

[Zondrae]

G'day all,

Some poems write themselves in my head and I simply have to adjust a little bit here and there for rhyme or metre. Other times I begin at the end with a good (well I think it good) punchline and then fill in the story to suit the ending. Other times, if I am working in the garden or out for a walk, I virtually write the whole thing in my head, not quite as easy as the first example but almost. Then there are those that have to be worked on, researched and written and re-written several times. I prefer (in this case) to work with pencil and eraser. This is much less messy than pen. I must have about 40 or 50 half written poems in the computer. If they were in my trusty note book they would stand a chance of being revisited and completed but if I have put them into the computer, I promptly forget they are there. Having said tis I must go trough the poems in the computer and see if I have any that warrant a second look.

[Robyn]

I'm definitely a 'notta'. I start with an idea, maybe a line or two, or maybe an ending, but part of the fun is to see what happens on the journey!

[Mal McLean]

I'm definitely a notta, except when I'm not.