Part 4/11:
Shapiro discusses two key approaches to storytelling:
Pantsing: Flying by the seat of the pants, where writers create spontaneously without a rigid plan.
Plotting: Starting with structured outlines, themes, characters, and sequences before filling in the details.
He observes that his earlier simulation methods resembled pantsing, which proved to be messy and difficult to control. Stories developed this way often got stuck or fell into loops because they relied on a free-flowing, unstructured generation process.
To mitigate the chaos, he proposes a staged approach:
Premise: Establish an initial story idea.
Expansion: Iteratively develop the premise into scenes, characters, themes, and settings.