There seems to be a debate between plot first writers and character first writers. If you don’t know what that is, allow me to give you a quick explanation. A plot first writer comes up with a great plot first, and then creates characters to endure said plot. A character first writer develops complex characters first, and then makes a plot in order to give their characters something to do.
So which are you? Do you even know? You should know. If you don’t, then go figure it out. If you do know, keep reading and I’ll tell you why you’re wrong.
Every publisher, editor, and agent will tell you that there should be a balance between the two. Too much time with plot creates forgettable characters. Too much time with characters creates a boring book. So you need both great characters and great plots.
But I am convinced that we are looking at this all wrong. What is needed is an emphasis on story first writing. That’s the type of writer I consider myself, and I’ve probably coined the term. (If nothing else, I don’t want it to ever be said of me that I never blazed trails.)
What is story first writing? Well, to understand that, I need to give my definition of “story.” This is what most people might call the “theme,” “message,” “underlying meaning,” or “the moral of the story.” In other words, characters and plot aside, what is your story really about? A plot is not a story. A plot is action… a story is meaning. Many people can’t seem to see the difference. Hopefully, I’ve made it clear.
If your book has plot and characters but no story, people will notice, even though they may not be able to name what’s missing. You need a story. Figure it out. Make it the focus of your writing. Now you are doing story first writing. But what about plot and characters? They all fall nicely in place, balanced as they should be, when you make the story your focus.
The story defines the characters.
The story shapes the plot.
In my book Winter, the story is about how God can take a broken and unlovable person, and transform her into something beautiful and amazing. The story defined my main character, of a Goth girl who becomes a Christian and receives the spiritual gift of prophecy. The story also shaped my plot, because I needed to show her being broken and I needed to show her being transformed. I did this with a dual storyline. As Winter’s story touched other characters, they were shaped and defined as well.
You still have to work on character and plot development, and any given story could go a million directions. But with the story as your focus, having a balance is easy. In essence, that’s what I think publishers, editors, and agents are getting at when they talk of balance. What they mean is you need more focus on your story.
Someday I may do a “how-to-write” book about being a story first writer. But I figure I need to build some credibility first.
So what do you think? Are you a character first person or a plot first person? Or do you think I’m on to something here with being story first instead?