Plot vs Character

Sometimes you can read the first few pages of a book and know right away whether it’s plot-driven or character-driven. I’m attracted to the latter myself; character-driven writing gives a story a kind of depth that’s typically hard to find.

It’s not too difficult to write either way if you set your mind to it, but I often don’t see the need to write a story of events just for the story’s sake. Within the characters are already many deeply involved stories that can be plucked out. They just need to be developed a little bit first.

It’s like when you’re out in public an you glance at strangers passing you by; you don’t really think anything of them. But when you stop and take a good long look at a stranger from across the room, you start to see their story, even if it’s entirely imagined by you. The same goes with a fictional character, only there’s the bonus of being allowed a much better look into what makes the person or thing whole since he, she or it exists solely in the mind until they’re written about.

-Ray