“SJM writes on vibes only.”
Tell me you don’t know what a pantser is without telling me you don’t know what a pantser is.
But yeah, let’s hear from her directly then:
Are you a planner (outline, etc.) or do you “pants” it?
When I’m writing just for the hell of it, I’m a total pantser. I usually have a pretty thorough idea in my head of the major plot points of the story, but I make up a lot of stuff spur of the moment, too. However, when it comes to working on the THRONE OF GLASS series, I actually need to submit pretty detailed outlines before I even begin writing (which can be both useful and immensely frustrating). So I guess you could say I’m BOTH, though I think my default setting is a Pantser.
Link to the interview: https://bookandlatte.com/2012/11/sarah-j-maas-how-i-write.html
Regardless of the type of writer Sarah is, she already made clear in interviews that she needs to deliver to BB a clear and detailed outline for her future books. This requires planning and plotting. When she mentioned that her plan didn’t changed, that’s what’s she is referring to. What she meant that “Rhysand just showed up on page” is very typical of pantser writers, and coming from another fellow pantser, it can be a very magical experience. So stop downgrading Sarah’s writing just because you’re ignorant of the process.