Once upon a time, there were Plotters and Pantsers. The two peoples maintained a civil discourse but neither side truly understood the other. Then one day, in true Romeo and Juliet tradition, a Pantser and a Plotter sat down over coffee and discussed in complete honesty how their writing processes worked. An outsider occupied the next table and pretended not to listen but while eavesdropping, she discerned that she was a species altogether different–a melding of the Plotters, with their arcs and outlines and scene-by-scene linear writing, and the Pantsers, with their make-stuff-up as it happens free spirit. Lo and behold, she was a Puzzler, with a framework of story, of scenes that seemed to appear from the vast cosmic void of her Muse’s imagination, that followed no rhyme or reason but told a story in the end.

And then the Universe said…

Think not of “how,” Silver, whether in terms of logistics, people, or inspiration, but of the end results you dream of. The end, in thought, combined with action in its general direction, will always create the necessary circumstances, serendipities, epiphanies, ideas, and discoveries necessary to bring about the desired manifestation. The hard part is done for you. Your part is the easy part: Think and let go. Knock on every door and turn over every stone. Do not insist upon the path, but upon the overall change you wish to experience, and never take no for an answer.

You’ve been doing it your whole life.

You take after me,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Silver, the end result forces the “hows” that yield the manifestation, just as long as you keep physically moving.

And that’s how stories get told. If you are a writer, what label do you use–if any? And as a reader, do you think you can tell what process the author uses to tell the story you’re reading?