The Four Types of Writers

In my experience, which I'll admit is limited, I've come across four different types of writers. This is mostly gleaned from interviews and speaking to my writer friends, but it seems to be pretty accurate. There seem to be four different types of writers out there when it comes to how they get the inspiration for their stories and how they write them.

The "One Scene Inspiration" Writer

The writer who falls under the category of "one scene inspiration" is the writer who sees just the flash of one little bit of the story in their head. This writer sees just a moment in the timeline of their characters' lives and goes from there. The "one scene inspiration" writer can build an entire world around just that one little vision. 

The "See It Like a Movie" Writer

This writer literally sees their story like a movie in their head. They have the complete story--pretty much--start to finish. It's almost like they have the screenplay and they're just taking the dialogue and the stage directions and making it much prettier. It's like a novelization of a movie, just better. These are the writers I envy.

The "Snapshot" Writer

These writers are the ones who get "snapshots" or little glances of the lives of their characters. They may get one moment from the beginning and one from the end and have to figure out what happened in between. Or they may have a photo album full of snapshots that they just have to string together into a narrative. The more snapshots they have, the more detailed their story becomes.

The "Voices in their Heads" Writer

This is the writer whose characters actually tell the story to them. They have their characters in their heads, fighting to tell their side of the story, describing their emotions and their actions in detail. I find that I like to read books by these kinds of writers because the characters seem to be more engaging. And I feel like I'm there.

So, you may ask, which of these am I? I suppose you'll have to read my book and find out. ;-)