Plotters: Planning, Pantsing, and Plantsing

There are three established types of plotters in the writing world. You may be more likely to encounter these terms within the NaNoWriMo community. Especially since you can claim badges on your projects for what method you decided to use.

Planners

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Planners plan. They are the kind of people who outline their plot, extensively worldbuild all the necessary details with notes, and do character profiles or sketches.

Pantsers

Pantsers "fly by the seat of their pants." They might have certain details pinned down, and an overall concept, but they pretty much trust that things will eventually work themselves out. They don't write up notes, or do outlines like planners. They just let things flow and see what happens.

Plansters

Now that we've gotten to this one you can probably guess what it means. It's a method that takes the best of both worlds from what I mentioned above. The details and kinks are worked out more thoroughly, but you still have room to let the creative currents have a little room to work in unexpected bits. 

I personally prefer to plants my stories. If I plan too much, I find that I lose some of the magic in not knowing where the plot may lead me. On the other hand, not planning enough means that I have no idea what I'm doing, and I get lost trying to figure out where to go from where I am.

I think it's a good idea to try out all the approaches, though. That way you can get a feel for how much you need to plan out and how much you need to pants. No one is the same, and only you know what works for you.