In a recent blog review, Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers scored a 9 out of a possible ten.
Comments: Good blog, solid advice (even if I don't agree with it all) - a useful resource for any writer.
When I asked the reviewer what he didn't agree with, he replied: "I just tend to avoid plotting. For me, personally, it seems to take some of the life out of the story. I write rough, let the story appear, and then polish it out the way it asks."
Plotters versus pantsers ("writing by the seat of your pants").
Is plot something you do -- a verb? Or, is plot an intergral part of a story, like dialog and authentic details -- a noun?
Pantsers work the story out on the page.
Plotters outline first and then write.
Either method, it seems to me, benefits from a firm understanding of the universal story form. And, the universal story form is directly related to plot. Therefore.......
Oh, well, the battle continues. I've received comments like this since I first started teaching and writing and obsessing about plot. Neither way is right or wrong.
Whatever it takes to get writers to put words on a page. That, to me, is all that counts.
P.S. For anyone who is interested in a "pantser" turned "plotter", please read my interview with Jana McBurney-Lin, author of My Half of the Sky at http://www.blockbusterplots.com/tips.html. Enjoy.......
