Which Came First: Character or Plot?

If you’re a new author you may have ideas for characters whose stories you’d like to tell. You know their families, their friends, their favorite Friday night drink. You imagine the job they have in the corporate world but the secret life as a painter in France they really want. 

Or you’ve been spending your lunch breaks building a fantasy world of a desert planet based on your research of Saharan Africa. Now you want to start writing that epic fantasy tale of what happens on your world!

Genre Guidelines

Which comes first when you go to start your novel: character or plot?

Like so many hard and fast writing rules, the answer is: it depends.

Remember writers: guidelines, not rules.

But it’s true that some genres are more likely to be driven by plot ideas or worldbuilding ideas than others. 

Mysteries are a classic example. Chances are you’ve come up with the idea for your mystery plot before your characters have taken shape. Think of the phrase locked room mystery. Sums up the basic plot before you’ve said anything about the characters.

Fantasy and Science Fiction can be cases where world-building comes first. Look at Avatar. Who didn’t want to find out about the world of Pandora?

And what did Pandora do? It drove the character’s actions. It was responsible for who was there, why they were there, what their different goals were, and every aspect of how they did (or did not) adapt to the world.

Pluses of a Plot-Driven Novel

When you start with a plot idea (or world idea) you know you have the potential to create something memorable. Everyone who watched Avatar remembers the world of Pandora and part of the fun of re-watching the movie is looking for new aspects of the world we didn’t notice before.

But what also satisfied us in Avatar was the plot structure. We easily recognized the three-act structure of the plot. An outsider (Jake Sully) discovers the beauty of a foreign world and ends up fighting to save it. 

Plot-driven stories also let the writer explore bigger themes than they might be able to with more character-driven stories. Avatar’s characters allowed James Cameron to easily explore environmental issues, colonialism, spiritualism vs science, and about a hundred other big issues.

Don’t Forget Your Characters!

It’s important not to assume your plot can carry your entire story and let your characters stay one-dimensional. Because that’s where you lose your readers. You can have big ideas, intense philosophies, and amazing new worlds, but in the end, I’m going to argue that if your reader doesn’t care about your characters, they aren’t going to care about your book.

Without your characters, do you even have a book?

Just because you didn’t start writing with ideas about who your characters were doesn’t mean that your characters aren’t moving the story forward now that you are writing.

Characters are how readers make the emotional connections. Whether it’s your protagonist, your antagonist, or a secondary character stealing the spotlight, your reader has to be emotionally invested in somebody. They have to keep asking: what happens next? How will this help my favorite character? How will they deal with that?

Pluses of a Character-Driven Novel

A book that’s driven by the characters may not need to have as complicated a plot as one driven by the plot, but it will focus on the characters overcoming obstacles to get to their main goal.

Think of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. It’s very character driven. A basic plot: Anne Elliott rejected the man she loved eight years ago because she thought it was the right thing to do. Now he’s back, and she still loves him. What are the characters going to do about it? In every scene you can ask yourself: How are they acting in pursuit of their main goal? How is their life’s baggage (fears, self-image, self-worth, vulnerabilities, you name it) affecting their decisions? 

Don’t Forget Your Plot!

Your characters may be awesome, but give them something to do. Don’t dumb down your plot to make things easy on them. Make them work for their goals. We don’t have smooth sailing in life. Why should they?

Writing the perfect book comes down to a balancing act. Characters and plot need to balance each other out. If you ever feel like you’re writing a book where you could pick up your characters and put any other characters in their place, you need to take a step back and think seriously about how to flesh them out and make them unique. Likewise, if you suddenly realize your plot is just a placeholder in between conversations, put down the pen and take a minute! Think about how your characters give your plot a different spin to make it something special and unique.

Having trouble creating that balance between three-dimensional characters and intricate, detailed plot? 

As a writing coach and developmental editor I can work with you to help you find the layers you need to grab your readers’ attention. Contact me today!