Plot or Character?

Emma B

So I am in the very very initial stages of beginning a novel. To be specific, I have a one sentence plan for the plot right now which has been niggling my brain for a couple of months with various ideas of how to do it.

The big question is do I start by developing the plot or character????

The main protagonist is female and I want her to be someone the reader can 'feel' so that is important, but at the moment the plot I have seems so bare its a bit scary to leave it as it is while I focus on character!

Can anyone offer any advice or point me in the direction of helpful websites on this?


The good thing is it is about a subject a feel very passionate about and I'm looking forward to starting it :-)

dorothyd

should be a few threads on this, Emma, if you put that question in the search box.
IMO you need to draw your reader in with characters they can empathise with, even as you put that character or characters into the plot.

Webbo

Emma, sorry for the shameless plug, but the imminent issue of Writing Magazine has a fab feature from David Baboulene on exactly this topic, which made me think about it all in a completely different way. Essentially, don't try to shoehorn existing characters into an existing plot, start from grains of each and develop them in tandem, eg Character A must have this trait, in order to react to Plot point Z in a particular way. How Character B responds dictates how Plot point Y develops...

Butterfly

I tend to discover my character, who then shows me what they want to do do, and I run with it at the beginning. Then I stop and look and see if it has legs and if I love the character.

Piper

For me it's character. I know mine pretty damn well. I knew them better than I did the plot, and in the end they helped me find the plot, so exploring your character first.

I explored my character for my first novel for over a year before I started writing with her. Same with my other protagonist.

boredrobots

Bit of a cop out answer, but it depends on what works for you and what works for the story, Emma.

I like to develop both characters and plot as much as I can when I'm starting a new novel, I find it speeds up the process of building up enough raw material to work with.
Once you have a fair chunk of stuff to play with then you can begin to concentrate on the more detailed moulding of plot lines and characters.

Claudia

Although my experience of writing fiction is almost (but not quite) solely limited to the one world challenge flash stories here on talkback, almost all of them started with characters rather than plot.

[quote=Webbo]the imminent issue of Writing Magazine has a fab feature from David Baboulene on exactly this topic[/quote]

Read this last night - it was very good!

Carol

I usually get chracters first and a basic plot idea and go from there. Which doesn't help you I know.

Jenthom72

Maybe this is rubbish, but when reading what you said Emma I thought that how a character reacts to the banana skins set out for her in your plot tells you more about her character than anything else you can write.

Red

The chicken or the egg? Depends on your perspective. The same is true of character and plot. You can develop one from another. You have the makings of a good character - you can map out her looks and personality and flaws etc, she will not be truly developed until you begin writing with her. That doesn't mean you HAVE to leave the plot until last. Characters and plot work together, it's a kind of symbiosis.

The best way you can develop your plot is to simply write and the best way to develop your character is to simply write also.

This might help you with characterisation: http://allwritefictionadvice.blogspot.com/2010/07/characterisation.html

You need to know from the outset if your novel is plot driven or character driven, as these make a difference to the way you construct your novel. There’s more on the blog about plot v character driven stories too.

red-lucy

Can't have a decent plot without a convincing character-but no point having a great character and no plot-as Red says it's a bit of chicken v egg. However I still believe you have to have a strong set of characters as they take your reader through the twists and turns of the plot. Not a great answer but I think you have to go with your idea and flesh it out as you go.

Mmmm might take my own advice here methinks ;)

St Force

I develop my plot first and then work on my characters as I go along but it really is your call. Do what suits you.

pbw

[quote=Red]she will not be truly developed until you begin writing with her.[/quote] [quote=Red] Characters and plot work together,[/quote]

This is how it happens with me.

This seems to be the general opinion. Even if you started with a character idea, you don't always know what she will do until you work through the plot. Sometimes your character will surprise you. At other times you might have to go back over a scene and make her more reactive (or proactive). Same with the male characters. It's interesting too, the contrast you can achieve from different characters having different reactions to similar situations.

Lou Treleaven

Convincing characters can carry you through a rubbish plot, and a great plot can distract you from one dimensional characters, but if you can get both right you've got a great book and are probably on your way to a publishing deal.

Col B

I always thought using plot first was the sure-fire way of getting the story going. Now I think it has to be characters first with hints at the plot to come. Can't recall where I read it recently, but of all the memorable characters in literature/film, it's those people you remember and not so much the plot. Examples (off the top of my head): Oliver Twist, James Bond, Jack Reacher, Superman!

Just my opinion, and where I'm at now.

flyingtart

It does depend on genre to a large extent. But Lou hit the nail on the head - find the right character whose desire and weakness drive the plot and you write a cracking book.

SilentTony

We had a huge thread on this not so long ago if I remember correctly. My personal opinion is in line with the symbiosis of plot and character theory that Red pointed out.

To me the question is the same as asking, 'Which do you think is more important to survive, food or water?' One alone may take you some distance whichever choice you make, but eventually without both you'll die before you reach the natural conclusion of your life. Same with stories. They need different kinds of nourishment and to ask which should come first or which is most important is like forcing your novel onto a crash diet. It may look good to begin with but ultimately it'll prove unhealthy or even fatal.

Aivlys99

I read this somewhere else and really liked it: "Character is the very life of fiction. Setting exists so that the character has someplace to stand, something that can help define him, something he can pick up and throw, if necessary, or eat, or give to his girlfriend. Plot exists so the character can discover for himself (and in the process reveal to the reader) what he, the character, is really like: plot forces the character to choice and action, transforms him from a static construct to a lifelike human being making choices and paying for them or reaping the rewards. And theme exists only to make the character stand up and be somebody: theme is elevated critical language for what the character’s main problem is." — JOHN GARDNER

Dwight

Very apt analogy, Tony.

Stirling

I agree fully with ST.

In my new novel it actually felt like Marcus chose me. I knew I wanted to write a book set along the Antonine Wall just as the Roman Army began to retreat, and that I wanted to make it more of a family saga than the Roman books that are in the bookshops at the moment [Scarrow etc.]