I Discovered I’m a Visual Person

I don’t know about you, but I found out I’m more of a visual person when I’m working on something. For years, I’ve been more of a pantser when writing than a plotter. However, this past year as I took some time off, I toyed around with a software called Plottr, and while I didn’t care for some of its functions, I loved its timeline feature, especially over a series.

This led me to the realization that I love seeing things in front of me throughout the process. I could outline, chapter by chapter or scene by scene, listing out the things I wanted in the book, and then adding the steps that led the characters to get there. With Plottr, I can move things around as needed, and it leaves a summary for more details.

Now, I’ve always been a Scrivener advocate, which is a writing software program, but while they had an index card system, it didn’t offer what Plottr does, so I work in one and move it to the other. Now, everything stays in order, and I can carry story lines over from one book to the next without forgetting where I was or where I was going.

I’ve also started using photos of people to represent characters so I can get a mental image of the person as I write their story. Now, I only do this for the main characters, but I’ve found it also keeps me focused on other aspects of the person. Again, it’s all about visualizing the story in my head to get it on the page.

How about you? When working on things do you need to see it laid out first? I’m also this way when learning something. Show me, and I can get it a lot faster than if I tried to read the instructions. For whatever reason, it sticks in my brain better. Hit the reply button and let me know if you share this trait or not. I’d love to know.

Before I go, I wanted to thank all of you who wrote me a note after last week’s newsletter, wishing me continued healing. It’s been a good week, and the girls even got me out of the house Saturday as we visited friends and popped into Orlando Reads Books for a bit. It was good to get out of the house, but I was exhausted once I returned home. I quickly fell asleep in my recliner an hour before bedtime lol.

Until next week, happy reading!!!