Gardener is a popular term to describe a type of fiction writer. According to this dichotomy, you are either a Gardener or an Architect ( or some combination of the two ). An Architect plans the structure of the entire story, plot points and all, before writing. While a Gardener has a vague idea of the main structure and the destination, but is discovering the plot along the way, finding new avenues and exciting possibilities that weren’t planned in advance. An oft-cited example of a Gardener is George R. R. Martin.