Character vs Plot? Well, how about both?
Recently there’s been some discussions in several different spaces about the difference between character-driven stories (both short and long) and plot-driven stories (both short and long). It’s somewhat of a classic discussion in fiction writing, depending of course on genre (note: I include “literary” as a particular genre of fiction) and what’s popular on the market in that particular era.
But it also comes down to reader preference. There will always be readers who want to read and reread the classic cliched plots. They derive pleasure from the familiarity and comfort of the predictable plot more than they do the inner struggles of the characters moving through the story, the ideas presented in the story, or the beauty of the language conveying the story.
There will always be readers who want to be engaged with the inner life of their characters. The process of challenges and transformation that the characters go through is something these readers seek, more than the ideas of a story.
There will always be readers who want fresh and exciting ideas presented in a story. The characters can be wooden or lively, the plot moribund or engaging, but what about that cool stuff? Things! Political Structures! Economic theories!
And then there are those readers who savor the beauty of the prose. They linger over the flow of the sentences, the rhythm of the words. They may not insist too much on plot, ideas, or even characters because they cherish the patterns of word usage.
You know what?
There’s nothing wrong with any of those reader preferences. Most readers tend to be a mix of those four types, and even those preferences can change due to what’s happening in their lives at the moment.
However, as a writer, it behooves one to consider the best approach toward engaging one’s potential audience—as well as consider that one’s own preference as a writer can also change over time. Additionally, finding a means to integrate all four elements identified above in order to engage the largest potential group of readers is optimal—but not always doable.
My take on the whole debate is that the character is the building block of a story. Then again, I can point to influences such as James E. Gunn, who writes:
“Characters must be capable of changing if they are to involve us as we wish to be involved, and one of the responsibilities of the author when presenting a character is to reveal that he is capable of change.
If authors are to satisfy readers’ need for story, they must create situations sufficiently threatening, sufficiently serious, to require that characters change in order to cope with them…situations must be matched with characters, and characters to situations.”
James E. Gunn, The Science of Science-Fiction Writing, 2003.
Note: I took a short story email course from Gunn back in 2008? 2009? We spent some time on this aspect of the intertwining of character and plot and, well, the notion of the Big Idea as well.
But Gunn is hardly the only one who cites the need for good, engaging characters. Donald Maass also cites the need for strong characters, stating that “great characters are the key to great fiction,” and tying plot and character together in much the same way that Gunn does by summarizing “A plot is just a plot. It is the actions of a person that make it memorable or not. Great characters rise to the challenge of great events.” Donald Maass, Writing the Breakout Novel, 2001.
Two authorities, with the publishing credentials to back them up.
The reality is that to create a good, engaging story one has to have both character and plot to begin with. The two are inseparable elements, the basic foundation upon which the other elements of Big Idea and lovely language can be constructed.
A truly adept writer can manage to interweave all four elements into a stunning pattern—but getting there requires much practice and many, many words. Not everyone can do this. Not every reader is seeking this sort of balance in their reading—which, again, can be very dependent upon their current life circumstances. Diving into a story dense with characters, plot twists, ideas/things/gadgets, and pretty language all at once might not work for a reader who just needs an hour or so of something escapist.
In other cases, that dense story might be just what that same reader needs. Circumstances vary.
Whatever the situation, it’s not worth it to sneer at readers—or writers—whose tastes differ in genre from one’s own perspective. I don’t mind if someone is straightforward about not caring for my particular taste in reading or writing—but to then disdain that preference?
No. Not acceptable, not at all.