Architects & Gardeners
Hey guys, I heard this really interesting quote today by George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones creator). He says that there are two types of writers. There are architects and there are 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.
I love this quote. I think it's the best way to describe the different kinds of writers out there. George R. R. Martin considers himself a gardener, which I can see, but it also surprises the hell out of me. His stories are so intricate, and there are so many different characters and events, but he doesn't write outlines. That's incredible. No wonder it takes him so damn long to write each epic novel. He doesn't know exactly what will happen!
I consider myself a gardener, also. I think it's the most fun. With an outline, you plot the story. You track what happens; the beginning, middle, and end. Some people enjoy this. It helps them with structure problems, and they get a clear picture in their head. I don't use outlines. I see the story in my head as it develops. I don't know what is going to happen until right before it does.
This makes writing (at least for me) more exciting. If I'm writing a horror story I fear for my characters because I don't know what they'll do when the monster shows up until it shows up. I've talked about it before, I like leaving the story to the characters in it. I just copy down what they do. Sometimes they follow what I think they'll do, but those other times is when it gets interesting. Other times a character will go rogue and completely change the story altogether, and that's my favorite moment when I write. That shock. Then, it's just a matter of figuring out what's going to happen now.
With outlines you don't really get that feeling when writing, because the path is already laid out. You, as the writer, leave the surprises for the audience or reader. There are times when this is better. Like when I'm writing, and a character goes rogue, it can be hard to follow them and figure out what's happening. It's easy to write yourself into a corner as a gardener, but that can also be a fun challenge. "How am I going to get myself out this mess?"
I'm not bashing on architects, or people that live by the outline. I'm just saying that there are differences in how stories can be told. Each side has its pros and cons. I don't believe that there is a superior way of doing it. Certainly, when you're collaborating on a story, it's probably better to use an outline because you might have differences in story, and it's easier to write everything down beforehand so halfway through you find out that someone else had another idea of where the story was heading. I'm working on a screenplay right now with my cousin, and he's a big-time architect, so he really wanted to make sure we had every plot point down and detailed. I had already written about four pages by the time we got the done.
Luckily, we can see the differences in our writing styles, so we've come to many agreements on who does what. We wrote the outline with what we wanted and needed. I write the script according to the outline, making sure that I hit the spots that need hit, but also filling in the gaps between each bullet point however I want.
For me, I think that writing outlines is easy, and when people do it they can jot down everything they want. Making sure that it's as detailed as it can be, and it has a beginning, middle, and end. But, when they've finished and try to write the actual story, they can't because they can only see the big picture. They can't zoom in and get to the small stuff that connects these points. That's where I think architects and gardeners really differ. Gardeners are able, since we have no outline, to just roam free and write whatever we want and then BAM, a story evolves from that. An architect can jot down the main parts of a story in a few pages, but can sometimes forget about the long haul and nitty-grittiness of making those parts flow together and connect in a way that doesn't seem to mechanical and structured.
So, in conclusion, gardeners are strong in flow and can sometimes lack in structures. Architects are the opposite; strong structurally, but can struggle with a good flow that stories need.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post. What kind of writer do you think you are, an architect or a gardener? Let me know, and I will see you all tomorrow.
Buh-bye.
I love this quote. I think it's the best way to describe the different kinds of writers out there. George R. R. Martin considers himself a gardener, which I can see, but it also surprises the hell out of me. His stories are so intricate, and there are so many different characters and events, but he doesn't write outlines. That's incredible. No wonder it takes him so damn long to write each epic novel. He doesn't know exactly what will happen!
I consider myself a gardener, also. I think it's the most fun. With an outline, you plot the story. You track what happens; the beginning, middle, and end. Some people enjoy this. It helps them with structure problems, and they get a clear picture in their head. I don't use outlines. I see the story in my head as it develops. I don't know what is going to happen until right before it does.
This makes writing (at least for me) more exciting. If I'm writing a horror story I fear for my characters because I don't know what they'll do when the monster shows up until it shows up. I've talked about it before, I like leaving the story to the characters in it. I just copy down what they do. Sometimes they follow what I think they'll do, but those other times is when it gets interesting. Other times a character will go rogue and completely change the story altogether, and that's my favorite moment when I write. That shock. Then, it's just a matter of figuring out what's going to happen now.
With outlines you don't really get that feeling when writing, because the path is already laid out. You, as the writer, leave the surprises for the audience or reader. There are times when this is better. Like when I'm writing, and a character goes rogue, it can be hard to follow them and figure out what's happening. It's easy to write yourself into a corner as a gardener, but that can also be a fun challenge. "How am I going to get myself out this mess?"
I'm not bashing on architects, or people that live by the outline. I'm just saying that there are differences in how stories can be told. Each side has its pros and cons. I don't believe that there is a superior way of doing it. Certainly, when you're collaborating on a story, it's probably better to use an outline because you might have differences in story, and it's easier to write everything down beforehand so halfway through you find out that someone else had another idea of where the story was heading. I'm working on a screenplay right now with my cousin, and he's a big-time architect, so he really wanted to make sure we had every plot point down and detailed. I had already written about four pages by the time we got the done.
Luckily, we can see the differences in our writing styles, so we've come to many agreements on who does what. We wrote the outline with what we wanted and needed. I write the script according to the outline, making sure that I hit the spots that need hit, but also filling in the gaps between each bullet point however I want.
For me, I think that writing outlines is easy, and when people do it they can jot down everything they want. Making sure that it's as detailed as it can be, and it has a beginning, middle, and end. But, when they've finished and try to write the actual story, they can't because they can only see the big picture. They can't zoom in and get to the small stuff that connects these points. That's where I think architects and gardeners really differ. Gardeners are able, since we have no outline, to just roam free and write whatever we want and then BAM, a story evolves from that. An architect can jot down the main parts of a story in a few pages, but can sometimes forget about the long haul and nitty-grittiness of making those parts flow together and connect in a way that doesn't seem to mechanical and structured.
So, in conclusion, gardeners are strong in flow and can sometimes lack in structures. Architects are the opposite; strong structurally, but can struggle with a good flow that stories need.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post. What kind of writer do you think you are, an architect or a gardener? Let me know, and I will see you all tomorrow.
Buh-bye.
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