Home page  |  More useful articles  |  Search for more information

Character-driven or Plot-driven?
Why Not Both?
"Musings" - November 2007

by Margot Finke

I have heard this from many editors and agents; "We are looking for fresh, new, character-driven books." Check!  I have also chatted in schools with middle graders and older teens. These kids want fast-paced fun, excitement, romance, adventure, shock-horror, and a few "dead Mom" books for those in emotional limbo.  Check!

So, whom do you want to write for, the kids who read your books, or the editor who plucks your manuscript from the slush pile and makes you a published author?  What I am really asking here is, why choose? Be smart, and give both of them what they crave.  Books that combine rich, well-defined characters, with plots that move along and grip the reader, are the ones that please both kid readers and editors.  Why?  Because books that combine a gripping plot with fascinating characters SELL!

You Need to Understand the Main Characters in This Story 

In order of appearance they are as follows:

• The Author:
  • They spend many years fine tuning their writing craft, and overcoming the depression dozens of vague rejection letters bring.  Writers who stick with it, and network among their peers, have the best chance of becoming published authors.
• The Editor:
  • Your manuscript is often read first by junior editors dumpster-diving in some slush pile.  This can jade the finest literary palate.  Boss wants books that sell extremely well.  Editor hopes to discover latest Jo Rowlings!  They also want to keep their job and advance up the publishing ladder.  Established writers, with proven track records, usually appear a better bet.
• The Publisher:
  • Big or small, a publisher's bottom line always looms large.  Never forget that publishing is a business.  Smaller, newer publishers tend to take more chances on new writers. They are hungry to build a great list of books.     
• The Kid or Teen Reader:
  • At this age, few young people know good writing from bad.  It is the plot, with it's pace, action and adventurous input that hooks them into turning pages.  Discriminating reading choices come later, with further education, experience, and maturity.

You decide to populate your fast paced plot with characters of great depth and fascination. YEA! You are on your way to publication.  Then it hits you.  You have the plot already—can't wait to put it on paper.  However, those characters of great depth and fascination might take longer. . . I am here to help you give birth to characters steeped in human foibles, rich backgrounds, and assorted fascinating propensities.

Sorry, there are no epidurals available for this type of painful literary birth!

Observe, Look Back, and Think!

• Look around you when you go grocery shopping, to the dentist, or to the park—a funeral service, anywhere.  There are faces and actions all around you, just waiting to be captured in your chapters.  The look on a wrinkled old face, that act of aggression outside the restaurant, the shy lovers holding hands: they are all fodder for your chapters.
• Think about the kid who made your life Hell in middle school, or the diabolical teacher, the nasty neighbor, or that prim aunt who pinched your cheeks so hard.   Sweet revenge to take their mannerisms, words, or the weird way they dressed, and make them into one or more of your most memorable characters.
• Remember your first romance.  Was he a heel?  Did he cheat and lie?  Was her perfume laid on with a fire hose?  Did she refuse to French kiss?  What about that one-time blind date: was his hair for real?  And that boss who always smelled like fish fingers and stood too close – his creepy behavior should earn him at least a minor character trait. Characters from your past can be tweaked and reinvented into characters in your book.

Back-story Adds Rich Details

Nothing is new. What you have to do is think of new ways to tell an old story, and new ways to make characters jump off the page, wrapped in the genuine reality of what you have seen, experienced and remembered.

Back-story is the stuff you weave into the plot about your POV  (point of view) character's past. It can be good stuff that shows his fine character, or it might be the one terrible thing he did that he is desperate to hide forever. Alternatively, it can be an event or happening that has been forgotten by all of your characters - except one. It can come out as gossip between friends, or something overheard or read.  It can be blurted out in a group conversation.  Back-story is a way to insert hints and clues that paint your main characters the way you want them to be seen.  It gives us more information about your POV than his character is willing to personally share.  It is often about jealousy, or something terrible or shaming. The secret of doing this well, is to blend these snippets in as a natural part of whatever is going on in a particular chapter. Think of your own life, and the family and friends you know.  Try to recall when back-story about someone close to you leaked out; who leaked it, when, and why.

Emotional Snippets Work Wonders

This is information straight from the horse's mouth—your main POV. Inner thought bares the heart and soul of your POV character.  Tension in a great scene mounts. A few terse and revealing thoughts from your POV can bring the scene alive for your reader.  Don't ramble.  Keep the thoughts juicy and succinct. 

Inner Thought Example:

         Sally yawned, staring bleary eyed at the podium. The professor droned on about a bunch of esoteric mumbo-jumbo.  Her head nodded, and her eyes closed.  Dave dug his elbow into her ribs. 

         "Huh!"  Her eyes flew open.  Damn it!  This guy's a sleeping pill!

Cutting some attribution is also a useful ploy.  Replace this with the character's actions or reactions.  It is more interesting, and when done well, offers insight into your character's mood, style or intentions.  Over time and chapters, the addition of "telling" actions and reactions, instead of the ubiquitous said, adds richness and depth to a character.

With Attribution:

 "I don't want to go to the movies tonight, Tom.  I told you that this morning," said Susan.  "You never listen when I tell you something."

With Actions:

"I don't want to go to the movies tonight, Tom.  I told you that this morning."  Susan turned her back and muttered,  "You never listen when I tell you something."

All you have to do is blend your new cast of brilliantly conceived characters into that out-of-the-box plot you thought up.  

Do I hear the sound of editors drooling?

HAPPY PUBLICATION MATES!

Margot Finke's biography and index to Musings.