Plot Vs. Character (Part 1 of Plot & Character)

You might know this, you might not. Have you heard of a character-first novelist? Or a plot-first novelist?

Well, it turns out there's two kinds of people in the world. Those who get ideas for characters first, and those who get ideas for plots first.

In general, if you are a character-first novelist and you get a story idea, you'll get a good idea for a character.

How the character looks, what's the character's personality, how that character reacts to others, and what the character's back story is are some of the ideas you'll get.

For a plot-first novelist, you'll think of how the stories run instead. Instead of getting ideas about interesting characters, cool plots will pop into your head.

Ideas a plot first novelist will get would be like thinking about what would happen if... aliens invaded earth, or if a boy found a mysterious map leading him to the center of the earth.

Now, you might say that you're none of these kinds of novelists. I've heard people say they are murder first novelists. They get a good idea for how a murder might happen (which I think you might need counseling for...) and then write the rest of the novel.

Others say they are story world-first novelists. They get an idea for a world before anything else.

Technically, both are just plot first novelists. A murder is a plot, and a world is where the plot will happen.

A plot needs setting, conflict, twists, and obstacles.

A character needs personality and terms of how they look.

The cool thing about these different novelists is that not just anyone can be a plot-first or character first novelist.

Actually, it is said that 75% of women novelists are character-first.

For men, 75% are plot first.

Only 15% of novelists are the opposite. 

For example, Stephanie likes to write about character-based novels. Jill, on the other, told me she likes to think of plots first.

So usually, if you're a girl, you get ideas for characters first. If you're a boy, you get ideas about plots first.

If you don't know why this is, think about it. Who would rather write about blowing things up?

You'd pick the obvious answer, right?

So, if you like plots more or characters more, you'll usually be "bad" at the opposite "trend". I like to write plot-based novels, so I'm not good at creating characters. They are usually just "stapled cardboard cutouts on the manuscript pages" for me.

On the other hand, if you like characters more, your novels (no offense) might seem to ramble on and on.

Both have disadvantages. One reader might pick up a plot-based novel and say, "Oh, I didn't really like the character. I didn't feel like I was in the story."

Another reader will pick up the opposite novel and say, "I felt like it didn't have a point. The characters felt very real though."

Don't worry if your novels are like either one. Maybe you do strive to create good novels with a balance of both sides.

I'll post another blog-post later this month since this one is long. I'll explain how you can do a better job at either side of writing.

But I'll end with a question. Are you character first or plot first?