In thinking about our cycle of blog topics (branding, publishing, marketing and design) it occurred to us that we left out a critical component of the self-publishing process: writing! For all the obvious reasons, you can’t self-publish a book without…you know…writing it.
So with that in mind, we’ve decided to add writing to our cycle of blog topics, starting today. For discussion Wednesday, we’ve decided to pose the following question:
Which comes first, the characters or the plot?
Do you sometimes find yourself building characters and than trying to build a plot around them, or vice versa? I’ve done a little of both and I don’t know if one is easier than the other, but it does take a lot of creativity either way.
Feel free to share your opinions below! We want to know what you think, what you’ve experienced, and most importantly, what you have to say!
- Team Duolit
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Characters definitely come first for me. I have a vague idea of the plot at best until they reveal it to me. I have to really know them before I can predict what they would say or do.
Definitely the characters for me too. If I came up with the plot first, I would have to create characters to fit the scenario, and that wouldn’t work for me.
Ditto on the characters. You can fake a plot, but you can’t fake a character.
It can work either way, I think. Each writer’s head works a little differently.
I actually think of a story as needing three essential elements: the protagonist, the protagonist’s goal, and the obstacle that stands in the way of achieving that goal. It doesn’t matter which piece or pieces occur to me first, but I have to fill in all three elements of the equation before I can proceed.
I say Characters. I create them first, allow them to interact so that I can get to know them better. Then, a plot is born!
Both. For me, what comes to mind is a particular character in a certain situation. I need a working title as well before I can start. However, sometimes that changes as the story progresses.
I say Characters. I create them first, allow them to interact so that I can get to know them better. Then, a plot is born! I am a firm believer that you must know who you are dealing with in order for a plot to be executed just right.
Mine go hand in hand. I get an idea and the characters are already hidden inside it. The characters develop once I have the plot and they influence the finer details
I do both, for sure, but usually I end up starting with the characters. I’ll have little flashes of daydreams throughout the day about different characters. As they develop, then the situation comes.
Sometimes, though, I start with a question – not even characters or plot yet. Like, I’ll turn to my BF and go, “What if….” and then a couple hours later we have a plot.
WOW! These have been some GREAT comments! Somehow I feel like I agree with all of you at the same time
madamduck, I love the idea of starting with a question and I often do that as well! Thanks so much to everyone for the great feedback.
[...] we asked you guys to share your opinions on which comes first in the writing process: characters or plot. We had so many great responses and as I read each one, I felt myself nodding in agreement, even if [...]