Found on the web (with thanks to Kathlaw): I think the results overstate the nature of seat-of-the pants writing (especially the part about the resulting stories either succeeding completely or failing utterly), but still, it’s fun.

You’re a PANTSER! A pantser writes without forethought to where the plot is going–sort of by the seat of her pants method. You’re a free-spirited, creative person. You write with passion about what inspires you at the moment, and you probably have a strong voice. Don’t worry about writer’s block–youve a different story. You’ve got more story seeds than a hive has bees. When you write, it’s in disjointed segments. You may write sequentially or in flashes of inspiration, where you connect all your flashes later. People might say you ramble a bit in your work. Your revision process might take several passes, because you really have to whip that first draft into a more marketable shape. Your novels either hit it big or miss. There’s no in between. Readers either love you or hate you. Learn to channel that creative energy into a masterpiece and well be seeing your name on the NYT Lists!

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At a recent conference we talked about this sort of thing in terms of writers who were “plotters” and “plungers.”

One thing the quiz misses and that I’ve only recently come to understand is that some plotters are extensive rewriters, and some seat-of-the-pants writers produce clean first drafts. I used to assume that plotters didn’t rewrite, and that those of us finding the story as we go always did.

I forget who said, in talking about writing processes, that “What works, works.” But that’s what it comes down to, ultimately. People talk a lot about understanding the “rules” of good writing, but ultimately there is no one-size-fits-all formula.

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