It's funny to me, that there would actually be people out there who would shit all over so-called "pantsing", IE "Writing by the seat of your pants", not doing a ton of planning, just sitting down and letting the story flow out of you, and evolve as you write it. Why? Because SO many writers, including a whole hell of a lot of very well known and successful writers, are "pantsers".
I can't tell you how many times I've read successful writers say that "my stories write themselves", "this is this character's story, and they're just telling it to me", or expressing how their own stories, even though they may come up with the core concepts and put a lot of thought into the overall story, will regularly surprise them, as they're writing it. That the story will go in directions or create moments that they had never even thought of. I know for a fact that this has happened to me in my own writing. I've written chapters and gone on entire arcs within a story, that I had not originally foreseen, but that just came out as the story was unfolding.
But here's the thing. There is nothing wrong, at ALL, with "pantsing". In fact, to be perfectly blunt, I'd go as far as to say that that is the more traditional, artistic approach to writing. Meaning, that I'd also be willing to wager that MORE of the most well known, most successful authors of all time than not, people like H.G. Wells, or Mary Shelly, or Mark Twain, or Ray Bradbury, or Stephen King, etc. etc. etc., have been "pantsers".
That isn't to say that there is anything at all wrong with being a "planner", someone who sits and meticulously plans and plots out a story. JK Rowling, at least to some extend, did that with Harry Potter. But I do not think that one approach or "style" to writing and story-building, is "superior" to the other. Being a "planner" is NOT better than being a "pantser", any more than being a "pantser" is better than being a "planner". It's all about you, the person, the creator, and what feels write to you, and what works best for you. And frankly, I feel if someone is trying to sell you on one way being "inferior" to another, they're full of shit.
There are writers, I guarantee you, that couldn't "write by the seat of their pants" to save their lives. But there are probably also "pantsers" who simply couldn't bring themselves to sit and elaborately plan. Because it doesn't work that way for them, just as the opposite is likely true. A certain amount of planning is good for ANY story. But then again, some of the very best, and likely most famous stories of all time, were sat and wrote spontaneously, with zero planning whatsoever.
And if you ask me, someone who would shit all over planning because they happen to be a "pantser", or conversely a "planner" who shits all over "pantsing", is just an asshole. Just because Bob Ross had a very specific, and successful, way of painting, didn't mean that he would ever dream of telling painters of OTHER styles that their way is shit, that you HAVE to paint like him if you want to paint good pictures, and if you don't paint like him you're doing it wrong. Why? Because he wasn't an asshole. And if you're a writer, who actually wastes your time trying to tear down other writers, and other styles and approaches than your own? You're an asshole. Because no self-respecting artist, of any field, should waste their time and energy, let alone show such enormous disrespect. Art is intensely personal, it is literally self-expression, first and foremost. And especially with something as personal as art, what works for one person, may not work for another.
The best approach to writing, is literally whatever works best for YOU, the individual writer. There is no "secret sauce" or magical technique to becoming a great and successful writer. The core of fiction writing is one thing, as far as I'm concerned: being able to tell a good story, and CARING about the story you're telling. Everything else is secondary to the story, and anything that doesn't serve the story, is extraneous. Yes, it is absolutely essential that you have your fundamentals down, know how to competently and clearly write, how to properly form sentences and paragraphs, how to spell words, etc. It also doesn't hurt to have an idea of HOW to tell a good story. But there is no secret formula to telling a good story. You're either able to, or you're not. So if you feel you have a story to tell, and feel strongly enough about telling it? Then take your shot, take a crack at it. Are there ways to refine and improve and evolve your art, your ability to tell that story? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, approach and style are just details. One approach is not superior to another. It's whatever works for you, whatever serves your story best, whatever helps you TELL that story best.
