They say that there are two types of writers. An architect and a gardener. This is how George R.R. Martin explains it.
“I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they're going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there's going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up. The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don't know how many branches it's going to have, they find out as it grows. And I'm much more a gardener than an architect.”
Simply put, you are an architect, if you plan your story ahead of time. This is where you make a draft of your story - from the plot, to the characters, and to every chapters of your story. Once your draft is done, that's when you start writing the full manuscript until you hit The End part, by well, following your draft.
Or you are a gardener, if you start with just an idea, sometimes a loose plot, or even with just a scene, and then develop it as the story grows, go to places your characters will take you, until you finish your whole manuscript and stamp The End on it.
I can say that I started as a gardener. Sometimes, I don't even have a specific plot in mind, I just have the starting scenario of the hero and the heroine. Or I have a loose plot, then, I just develop the whole story from there. I write when something inspires me, or a scene is pushing me to bring it to life.
Then, one time, I have a writing comissioned where in I have to write a draft, 'cuz they have to check it and approve it first. From the plot, to the characters, to scenes per chapters, I have to come up with those first, before I could write the whole manuscript. So I was forced to follow the guidelines. And this is where I found out that it is easier to finish an ms once you have a draft. But then, I only did it during my commisoned works. I don't really follow it, like when I'm writing here on wattpad. I write when I have the time and an inspiration. But yeah, what have changed was that, I have developed a loose draft in my head when I write a story. Like, I already specified their characterization, the plot and the development of the story. Only that it is not written and formalized. It is, but a loose draft, so to speak.
If you're going to ask me what should be better, to have a draft or none at all? I suggest that you should have a draft first. Especially if you have difficulty developing your characters and your story. So you would have a way to check your story, to look for loopholes, and to find ways on how to make your story more exciting without spending a lot of energy. Most of us are lazy when it comes to editing. So if you have a draft, it will save you so much time spending your energy editing your manuscript. 'Cuz believe me, when you don't have a direction when writing your manuscript, most probably, you'll have a lot of fillers and unnecessary scenes, which in the end will be just wasted pages because you or your editor have to painfully cut and remove them from your ms.
So right now, I can say that I'm a combination of an architect and a gardener. I found this combo very suited for me. It fits my personality, as well as help me improve my writing skills and speed as well.
So how about you? What do you think you are as a writer? An architect or a gardener?
