New Series

Recently, I wrote an article on worldbuilding that introduced the 3 types of worldbuilders: Planners, Storytellers, and Creators.

I’ve noticed that once a writer knows what type of worldbuilder they are, it’s so much easier to know what to do or to what to avoid as they start down the worldbuilding and story-writing path. (It’s certainly worked wonders for me as a Planner/Creator mix)

In the first article I gave a short overview of all the different worldbuilder types, but now I’d like to focus on each type in a little more detail.

Today, we’ll be focusing on Planners!

What Is A Planner?

A Planner is the type of worldbuilder who world-builds in order to write. Whether a Planner enjoys worldbuilding or not, they want to make sure everything is in their story for a reason. 

That’s why they may feel like they need to know everything there is to know about their story, and their story’s world.

Are the characters dynamic enough? Is the plot engaging and complex? Are the correct themes being portrayed throughout the story? Is there too much worldbuilding and exposition? Or is there not enough?

These are the types of questions that a Planner will consider while they write—and even before they start writing.

Planners don’t want to be “accidental geniuses”.

If something in their story is foreshadowed well, or the story’s theme showed up clearly, they want to be able to say “Yeah I did that on purpose!” and be telling the truth.

When Planners write their first draft, they often write it as if it’ll be their only draft.

Since most Planners do their very best on their first draft, needing to edit or rewrite may feel as though their best wasn’t good enough—which can be extremely discouraging.

Needing to edit or rewrite anything may feel like a nightmare to a Planner because it means they “missed something” even after all the hard work and research they put into creating their story.

Planners want their readers to be immersed in the world they’ve created for their story, so they want to make sure that if their story were to be scrutinized under a microscope, nobody would see a single plot hole, or notice anything that seems out of place or doesn’t make sense.

Planner Strengths

#1 Problem Solving

Once a problem/plot hole is evident in a story, Planners are quick to find clever solutions to fix the story.

#2 Believability

Due to the extensive research Planners do while developing their story worlds, their stories are often more believable and interesting.

#3 Avoiding Unnecessary Exposition

Planners tend to be intuitive writers. Planners are great at combining plot and worldbuilding without boring or unnecessary exposition, which makes their story worlds more immersive for readers.

#4 Create Great Stories

Planners care a lot about creating quality stories. They put a lot of time, effort, and thought into their writing. As a result, once a Planner’s story is complete, it’s generally fantastic, and a lot of fun to read.

Planner Weaknesses

#1 Perfection

Perfectionism is a problem that the majority of Planners deal with. They often get hung up on small details during each area of the writing process (worldbuilding, writing, and editing). As a result, finishing a book may take a longer time for Planners than for other writers/worldbuilders—especially if they’re under the impression that they need ALL the details figured out before they can properly write their story.

#2 Research

Planners may find themselves researching the smallest of details for their stories to make sure that anything they write will be factually accurate, or at the very least, believable. This can become a weakness if a Planner does more research than actual writing.

#3 Being Done

The only thing more difficult than getting a Planner to start writing their story, is getting a Planner to stop writing their story. 

Because Planners are so good at coming up with new ways of making their stories better, and are great at catching plot holes, errors, or weaknesses within their stories, a Planner may never feel like their story is truly finished.

As a result, it may take forever for A Planner to start writing, and even longer for them to stop, finish editing, and finally publish their books. This is terrible since that means the rest of us are being deprived of some amazing stories!

Perfectionism is the true culprit that keeps Planners in each phase of the book-writing process for far too long, and that’s because “perfect” doesn’t write books. Writing writes books.

If you, or another writer you know happen to be a Planner, then here are a few ways to encourage Planners to actually write instead of researching and worldbuilding for the next seventeen years…

#1 Create Deadlines

The first way to get a Planner to finish a story is to give them (or yourself if you’re a Planner) deadlines.

As someone with Planner tendencies, I absolutely despise deadlines, but I can’t deny the fact that they work extremely well when it comes to getting me to stay on task, and finish each stage of the book writing process.

#2 Hold Them Accountable

If deadlines by themselves aren’t helpful enough, find your Planner (or yourself if you are one) an accountability partner. 

If left to their own devices, a Planner is quite imaginative and more than capable of coming up with creative ways to work on their story—without ever finishing it.

So, having someone to check up on them can usually apply enough pressure to get a Planner writing and/or editing. 

And on that note, if the Planner is willing, then sharing their writing with another person and getting some encouragement may give them enough confidence to start/continue/finish writing or editing their story.

#3 Save The Research For Later

As a bit of a Planner myself, something that has been super helpful for me is to mark down things to be researched as I write the first draft, and go back to research them after I finish the draft—instead of stopping every two seconds to look things up right away. 

You can even do the same thing and fill in any descriptions later on if that’s helpful!

#4 Create A New Mindset

The fourth option is harder and more complicated because it involves a mindset shift. It is possible for a Planner to stop being afraid of “messing up” or “missing something” and “failing”, but that entails constantly reminding the Planner that:

1. Stories are supposed to have multiple drafts because it’s impossible to write something perfectly the first time.

2. No one actually expects your book to be perfect except you—and you really shouldn’t.

3. At least if it’s written, it can be edited.

4. Someone is going to read your book and enjoy it, whether it has “mistakes” or not.

#5 The Final Method

And while you’re at it, be sure to make a list of any other fears or things that have been holding the Planner back.

Making a list of fears and doubts and coming up with phrases to counteract them will help a Planner slowly overcome those fears and gain enough confidence to world-build, write, and finish their stories—without perfectionism getting in the way.

More Articles On The Way!

Planners, Storytellers, and Creators all have their strengths and weaknesses as worldbuilders and writers. 

Over the next few weeks, we’ll continue to take a closer look at the other two worldbuilder types to show what each of them do right, and what pitfalls they’re prone to fall into.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to join my newsletter so you won’t out on the rest of this series!

Before You Go…

Have you read my latest book, A Traitor’s Vow? 

If not, you can find it at barnesandnoble.com and on Amazon!