This discussion dovetails a bit with my post from last week about plot and action. My proposition is this: that plot and character might actually be the same thing. I started thinking this when I realized that I can’t talk about plot without talking about character.
If your ideas normally start with a character, then the plot grows (or it should grow) out of what your characters are like, what they would do, what problems they’d naturally get themselves into, and the unique ways that they (and no one else) would get out of those problems. The character’s goals mark the turning points in the plot: what does the character want? What stops her from getting it? What conflicts and obstacles affect her the most? The climax and resolution of the plot should also reflect the character arc, where she grows and changes and either realizes her goals or changes them.
If you normally start with a plot (or an idea, or an event, or an action scene), then the story grows when you find the right character to fit that idea or event. The character has to be the kind of person who would get into that situation, who would make those specific events happen, or be most affected by them.
Essentially, what I think one of the things that makes a story engaging is how this particular series of events couldn’t possibly happen to any other character but the one the story is happening to, and how no other character could possibly deal with this situation. This story is happening to this character because of who she is, and the story happens the way it does because it’s this particular character driving the events, making the decisions. Raiders of the Lost Ark works the way it does because the story is happening to Indiana Jones, and you get the feeling that things would have gone very differently if anyone else had been there.
Boring stories happen when you start to feel like the scenes and actions are happening in spite of the characters rather than because of them. When you could put any character, from Hamlet to James Bond, into that slot and the story would happen just the same. In my mind, that’s bad writing.
Also, the plot needs to stay true to the character you’ve established. The character needs to be the kind of person who would make the decisions and take the actions that make this particular plot work. The plot needs to rise out of the characters’ decisions and actions. If a character wouldn’t actually make the kind of decisions that you need her to make in order for the plot to move forward, maybe you need to change the character to make her that person. Or give a really, really good reason for her to behave out of character. See? Plot and characterization need to work together.
How many times have you watched a favorite TV show go down the tubes because a beloved character started acting just wrong, in order to make a plot twist work? (Mine was Callie on Battlestar Galactica. I couldn’t believe for a second that a woman who, in previous episodes 1) beat up her would-be rapist, 2) survived the ambush on Kobol, 3) pulled the Jack Ruby on Boomer, and 4) helped organize the resistance on New Caprica, would then take her baby into an airlock with the intention of killing them both. I don’t care how depressed she was, I simply don’t believe it.) If you have to contradict a character to make a plot point work, it may be time for a rewrite — change the character or change the plot. What would that character really do?
Plot is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to learn about writing. It’s the thing I’ve had to work the most on, and the thing I’ve thought the most about because it’s never come naturally to me. Characterization, however, has been my strong suit. I’ve never done those surveys where you write down your character’s favorite foods, I’ve never written out character sketches or biographies before I started. I don’t even need to know their names at first. (I’ve been known to search and replace the names of main characters after writing the book.) I just have a picture in my head. I just know my characters. So maybe it’s natural that I would think about plot in terms of character, and what my characters would or wouldn’t do.
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Actors and their actions cannot exist without the other. The first alone is a frozen statue, the second alone is a whirl of events with no visible cause. Two sides, one coin.
The needs and desires of an actor drive what they want to do, and what they can and will do (and can not and will not do) shapes the actions they decide to do.
Conversely, the actions of an actor reveals who they are. Especially the actions they do NOT do, which they actively REFUSE to do, such as win a goal at the expense of someone they care for. Two sides, one coin.
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Carrie, thanks for that post. It’s refreshing to read about other writers who know their characters first, then discover the plot.
I think there are instances where a story can have a decent plot, but not very real characters. But the best plots make so much more use of characters’ longings and personalities. A cunning twist at the end of the book is fine, but it means so much more if the readers have connected with a deeply drawn character.
-Nate
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Well spoken, Carrie! There is nothing more frustrating (in a book or any other format) than buying into a character only to have the writer(s) abandon all they’ve built in order to accommodate a plot twist. At that point, I lose belief in both character AND plot. Grr. So yes, I think you’re absolutely write in saying you can’t have one without the other. A well-written character will propel the plot forward with his/her actions and reactions; and a well-written plot will bring out the very best, and worst, in its characters. Therein lies the challenge for all writers!
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I’m so glad to read about someone who writes from character, but doesn’t do those fill in the blank character sheets. I was wondering if I was deficient.
Like you, my weakness is plot, and my books move forward based on who my people are. Sometimes it’s hard to find the appropriate challenge to have them grow in a way that’s satisfying and right for the H&H, but I’ll just keep working on it and trust my process to work for me.