justin lesieur dot com slash blog slash plotter or pantser?

August 16, 2026

Writers love to debate whether they're plotters or pantsers. A plotter is someone who outlines everything before writing. Chapter by chapter, scene by scene, sometimes down to the smallest detail (John Grisham is known to spend months plotting his stories). A pantser (as in "flying by the seat of your pants") dives in with little or no plan and lets the story unfold as it wants to (Stephen King is a well-known pantser). 

I'm somewhere in between.

When I start a new book, I usually have a general idea of where I want the story to go. I'll make a rough outline, enough to give me direction, but once I start writing, new ideas show up, characters make unexpected choices, and the outline quickly becomes useless. I've learned to accept that. The story evolves as I write, and that's part of the fun.

For my latest book, I've started using a plot board to keep things organized. I thumbtack chapters and scenes on white index cards across the center horizontal line so I can see my whole story at once and move things around easily if needed. Above that line, I post colored index cards for macro-level tracking: chapter goals, thematic statements, timeline notes, and world-building additions. Below the center line, I post cards for secondary character arcs, emotional shifts, and any fixes I need to make. 

Each color means something different:

• Pink - a scene or chapter to add

• Green - character-related notes or development

• Orange - errors or corrections needed

• Blue - subplot ideas or additions

• Purple - new scene or chapter ideas

It's still a work in progress, and I'm figuring out how to use it to its full potential, but it's already helped tremendously. Seeing the story laid out visually makes it easier to spot gaps, pacing issues, and corrections I might have missed in the manuscript document.

So, am I a plotter or a pantser? Honestly, both. I plan just enough to know where I'm headed, then let the story take the wheel when it wants to. The board helps me keep track of the chaos, and that's about as close to balance as I'm ever going to get.

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