The Plotter's Secret: Why Outliners Are Discovery Writers Too

I was thinking about writing today, and I’ve got a take. I won’t say it’s a hot take, but it is looking at something through a slightly skewed perspective: I’d like to make the argument that plotters or plot-centric writers—outliners—are also discovery writers.

Generally, writers tend to fall into two categories: the plotters who plot everything out and work from an outline, and the pantsers who just write straight ahead and make it up as they go along. Some people who might take offense to the term “pantser” refer to them as “gardeners” or “discovery writers” versus “architects.” Discovery writer is probably the most pleasant phrasing of the concept. Neither is meant to be pejorative; they’re just two different ways of approaching the story process, and which one you use really just depends on how your brain works.

I am a plotter. I am somebody who really likes to work from an outline. Not only that, I tend to be somebody who starts with the germ of an idea. For better or for worse, I think I’m a lot better at coming up with high-concept stories—things that sound like they could be a movie or a TV show. I can design you a movie poster for a comic that doesn’t even exist yet.

From there, I have to work out the actual story: how to connect all the threads and make a coherent narrative. That said, I fully acknowledge that my weakness—the thing that I really need to work on and struggle with—is character development. I struggle with creating characters that feel, if not realistic, at least consistent and believable within the context of the world and narrative I happen to be telling.

Turning Weakness into Exploration

I was on a walk today listening to a podcast—I wish I could remember what it was, but it was something comic- or story-related—and they were talking about how starting with character and creating compelling characters is the essence of story. In my mind, I thought, “Yeah, it sure is. I wish I could do that too.”

Then it occurred to me: for me, working from an outline where I’ve got my landmarks and story beats laid out from the premise, the plot is what I understand. The thing that is the unknown for me—the place where I am doing my discovery as an outliner—is the character.

I don’t know my characters as well as I’d like to. Instead of thinking of that as a weakness, maybe I should shift my thinking to look at character as the element that I am discovering. I’ve got a plot, a story, settings, and a world I’ve built, but who is the person navigating through that? How do I find that person? How do I find the ways to express who they really are to create someone readers care about, find compelling, and want to follow through a narrative arc—maybe even across multiple books or series?

Two Sides of the Discovery Coin

You are doing discovery no matter what approach you take. If you are somebody who comes up with a character and just follows them, you are basing the choices they make and what happens next in the story on a character you know well. You ask, “Who is this person? What would they do?” and you discover the events based on the character.

With me, I’m discovering the character based on the world and plot I’ve built. For both approaches, there’s always room to revise. I don’t know any outliner or plotter who doesn’t revise their plot, deviate from their outline at some point, change things around, or get to the end of the story and go back to adjust earlier parts. Just because someone has an outline doesn’t mean they are tied to it like an anchor.

I had never really thought about my desire to improve my character writing as an exploration. I used to look at it as just a weakness I needed to fix. Now, I’m thinking of it as an adventure.

Do you consider yourself an “architect” who plots the world first, or a “gardener” who follows the character to see where they grow?

If you start with a high-concept plot or world outline, what specific exercises or techniques do you use to “discover” who your characters really are along the way?

How often do your characters force you to completely throw out or rewrite a key plot point from your original outline?