Vocabulary words

I learned a new word just now: pantser. It was used in a comment over at Slash & Burn and I thought, "Huh? Whazzat?" Thanks to our friend Google, here's what I learned.

"Pantser: One who writes by the seat of their pants, and who does NOT plan, plot, outline, or do character studies ahead of time. They generally get a basic idea for a story and/or character(s) in their head, sit down at the computer, begin writing, and trust that everything will work itself out in the end." (The Plotter & The Pantser)

I love it! I've always been a pantser and never knew there was a name for it. Even in grade school I wrote the report first and then wrote the outline to fit it. As a fiction writer, I love that feeling of excitement that comes from discovering, two-thirds of the way into writing something, that the random crap I threw into the story early on is actually all coming together to form something cohesive. If I plotted it all out, what would happen to that thrill? It would be gone. So let's give it up for all the pantsers out there. Hip, hip, huzzah! :D