Plot-driven vs Character-driven - two questions.

My understanding is that character-driven stories are more about the changes going on within a person than about external plot devices. Plot-driven stories are more about what a character is doing as opposed to what's going on in his head.

For example, The DaVinci Code is plot-driven because it's focused on the hunt for clues and the race to solve a mystery (and peanuts killing a dude.) To Kill A Mockingbird is character-driven because it's focused on the changes that come to the central characters, not only internally as they grow in response to the trial and their understanding of racism, but external changes as well, as they grow up and begin to approach adulthood.

The Backward OX said:

Forgive me for sounding like a dummy.

I’ve heard of plot-driven stories and character-driven stories, and while the difference between the two may seem perfectly clear to some people, I’ve never been able to figure out precisely what that difference is.

To me, all stories have a plot, and all stories have characters.
But then as I said I’m a dummy.

So how do you define them?

And are there any pluses or minuses attached to either?

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There have been other threads on AW on this question, so you may want to try some trial and error searches for driven or plot-driven, etc.

But, in my subjective and non-expert understanding, here's an attempt to answer it:

Ok, all books have some balance of plot events driving the story and character driving the story. But in some books the balance tips one way or the other.

So, my understanding of a plot-driven book is one where the events of the story primarily move the story forward, and the character is mostly reacting to those events. They tend to be less introspective, less analytical, and the focus is usually on an active and event driven plot arc. The characters are secondary to the plot arc. In well-executed plot-driven books, the characters are still unique and enhance the reader's experience of the plot's twists and turns, but they are secondary. The characters mainly act in response to the plot arc, and not making choices or taking actions that move them away from the plot arc's primary event(s). And they generally aren't thinking too much about the larger meanings - more reacting.

When I think of plot-driven books, I think of thrillers where there is an event or crisis to be averted, natural disaster, outbreak of war or disease (if the characters aren't causing it and not analyzing the moral implications). A lot of suspenseful books, some horrors, some science fiction... all are ore focused on the events, than the characters.


In a character-driven book, it is the characters, and their choices that drive the story forward. The characters are less reacting to plot arcs, than creating the events and actions. The majority of plot arc twist or turn comes from a character causing it to happen, or at least making a fateful decision that takes the book off from some outside event. They tend to be books where the conflicts and action come from the characters having to make volitional choices and actions, not just reactions to the events or crisis bearing down on them. The focus is on the character's choices and decisions, and on larger issues. They can be, but aren't always, more introspective. A lot of literary fiction falls in this category.

ETA: so, here's an example. A book with some crisis, a wildfire. In a plot-driven book, the focus would be on stopping the fire, how do they stop the fire, or get away from the fire, save their families, etc. A character driven book would be about how the fire caused the characters to change their lives, or how it killed the MC's husband and she has to start over, or maybe she ran away and she's being tortured by guilt...but it's more about the character's reactions than the fire itself.

Now. I happen to think a lot of books really don't fall into either category.

And I can't say either is better. Books always come down to execution, and I have read great books in both categories, and great books that fall into neither category.

Anyway, that's my take on it, but others might come in with more reasoned and informed opinions...

~suki

It's getting a little late while I am, but here's a start of an idea of the difference between the two, although I agree that's it's two sides of the same coin.

Think of a murder mystery. What's the main goal? To find out "who done it". The protagonist might be interesting, but we as readers most want a clever puzzle to follow along with and even to possibly solve ourselves. It's plot driven. The clever sleuth may be exactly the same person he or she was before the story began. Think of any Agatha Christie story, or any Sherlock Holmes story.

Now think of another type of story, one where the story is mostly about the changes the main character goes through as the story progresses. Maybe not much really changes on the exterior and sometimes not even much happens in the story, but the character changes internally (or, in some cases, decides not to change) It's character driven. Consider The Stranger; it's almost all about the character's inner thoughts and feelings. He's been accused of murder, he's going to be executed. Not much mystery; it's all about the character and his inner thoughts about life.

And yes, sometimes it's hard to say whether the story is plot driven, or character driven.

That's a very short version of the difference.

Plot driven stories are the ones that don't make any rational sense and usually have far too many twists. They are like "blockbuster" films that are all about concept and nothing to do at all with human nature.

Transformers (movie, parts 1 & 2) for instance, or anything produced/directed by Bay. You know one when you see one. They are all empty spectacle. The worst genre writing is plot driven. Jefrey Deaver is a criminal of writing, he is unspeakeably terrible.

All good writing should have some element of truth, which usually starts with well observed characters acting consistently. Plot shouldn't be seperate from character in my opinion.

Aschenbach said:

Transformers (movie, parts 1 & 2) for instance, or anything produced/directed by Bay.

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Please don't insult plots by saying that the Transformer movies have them. Just because stuff happens doesn't mean there's a plot. Transformers, and all Bay movies for that matter, are about the spectacle, but not about creating an interesting and detailed plot.

A plot-driven story has a strong plot and works with minimal characterisation. One of the best examples is Jurassic Park: Genetically engineered dinosaurs are the attractions of a new theme park. An accident sets them loose and they kill lots of people and an expert on chaos theory says 'I told you so'. It doesn't really matter who these people are; they are all pretty much generic.

A character-driven story depends on strong characterisation. Stuff happens because of how particular characters react to the events in their own unique ways. Different characters would have reacted differently and you would have a completely different story.

Actually, it's a good question. I'd always thought I was character-driven because I do a lot of characterization, but with my current WIP, I've realized I'm actually plot-driven.

Suite 101 just published a really good article that explains the differences with examples of books you can read.


Minuses of plot-driven: Stories can have poor characterization or lack characterization. The focus of the story is on developing the plot and the events that shape it, not on developing the characters. They are also often books that you would read once, enjoy, but probably not read again.

Minuses of character-driven: Stories can feel like they're too slow and not have enough going on (granted, I am reading them from the perspective of someone who prefers plot-driven).

And minuses of a combination of the two: If the plot is too different from the character-driven elements, it can misfire and make for a bad book. I read a book recently that suffered from that. It was supposed to be an action-adventure treasure hunt book. Instead, much of the book focused on marital angst--Bad guys were chasing the MC, and all she was worried about was marital angst. It just didn't fit. On the other hand, if one does successfully combine the two approrpriately, it can make for a fantastic book.

Aschenbach said:

Plot driven stories are the ones that don't make any rational sense and usually have far too many twists.

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I disagree, respectfully, with the suggestion that anything plot-driven doesn't make sense. Anyone interested in proper plotting should read old pulp magazines, where tight plotting was refined to near-perfection. Watching something hokey like The Towering Inferno might assist in getting a grasp on making a plot rattle along.

The stories in which nothing happens and lots of talkiing and thinking get done, which are considered literary or character-driven, really irritate me. I want something, anything really, to happen. Life is more hectic than some books would show, and the slow-burn stories tend to overlook just how complex reality tends to be.

Sometimes plot driven writing can make sense and have good characters - but one of the hallmarks of the way characters are used in a plot driven story is that the characters generally don't change, and they tend to represent some kind of archetype. Series like James Bond movies, Star Trek TV and Movies, sitcoms of all kinds, and mystery series where the same main character solves various cases, are often plot driven writing because the characters have to stay fundamentally the same from one episode to another. On the other hand psychodrama, romance, bildungsroman, all are stories where the main character has to change in a fundamental way between the beginning and the end, thus you can't then tell another of the same type of story about the same character.

The television series Babylon 5 has one of the most complicated plots I have seen in serialized drama, and yet the characters do change. The changes which most of the characters go through then feeds into the plot. You can have the best of both character and plot. They aren't mutually exclusive.

Aschenbach said:

The worst genre writing is plot driven. .

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And the worst literary writing is character-driven. It's just awful to read.

Seriously, though, I agree with your statement that good writing should combine plot and character drive. They're both interesting, and they can both help each other if well done. it's perfectly okay to have a book or story that is *more* plot-driven than character-driven, and vice-versa. But in my opinion, the ability to combine parts of each is a great skill, and it will only make your book more interesting to a larger number of readers.

Backward Ox, I missed the second part of your question the first time around. I don't think there is really any concretely positive or negative side to either plot- or character-driven writing. Both can be entertaining and great to read. It's all about what you enjoy reading/writing, and what the audience enjoys. There's a lot of market for both types of fiction, so obviously there are eager fans of each kind!

Seriously, though, I agree with your statement that good writing should combine plot and character drive. They're both interesting, and they can both help each other if well done.

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I wanted to emphasize that because I've seen quite a few thrillers lately that are plot-driven and they've tried to bring something character-driven in. A lot of the ones I've read really haven't worked well--instead of adding depth to the characters, they've annoyed me by taking away from the story or making the main character look incompetent or weak (a real problem if the character is supposed to be in a role that requires be competent).

I was going through this with my novel, which is strongly plot-driven, but does have character development. When I tried to add subplots though, I went for the standard recommended ones, more likely to fit in with a character-driven novel. They were horrible. Instead of adding depth to the character, they made him look weak, foolish, or incompetent--and the character is anything but (I ended up going with a plot-driven subplot). I think that's a big challenge for a plot-driven novel because character-driven elements can drive a very different impression that may change the story away from what the reader is expecting.

I think this is a difficult area because it promotes the idea that there are books that have rounded characters OR there are books where things happen.

The best books have both.
It's entirely possible for a plot-heavy espionage thriller to have believable characters, acting and reacting in perfectly plausible ways to extraordinary events. And by the same token, it's entirely possible to have deeply introspective and intimate character portraits where people do completely implausible actions for no other purpose than to serve a requirement of the story.

Aschenbach said:

Jefrey Deaver is a criminal of writing, he is unspeakeably terrible.

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He's doing a talk at my local Waterstone's this week.

I'm a face down there, and could probably get pretty close. Should I take the chance to chiv him?

Character-driven = the characters do stuff.

Plot-driven = stuff happens to them.

Which is why I prefer character-driven novels; plot-driven ones tend to make for more passive characters.

Generalizations are really flying around here, some of them absurd. Plot-driven and character-driven are not mutually exclusive entities, and in reality, this is another example of a black-and-white dichotomy that isn't really so. Most writers occupy the gray area in the middle, and it can slide one way or the other. Good writers construct interesting characters and put them in unique, challenging situations. How one grades that out in terms of plot-driven or character-driven shouldn't be based on a binary ranking system. Some genres will tend to push the slide in one direction, but many authors successfully buck that and bring it back to a closer balance.

Just write your story by creating those interesting, three-dimensional characters and putting them in intriguing situations that make the reader want to turn pages. Let someone else agonize about whether it is plot- or character-driven because if it is a damn good story, who cares?

quote: "What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?"

"Character-driven" can be a euphemism for "artsy/literary & has no plot." To generalize broadly, a plot-driven work can usually be summed up easily in a sentence or two. A character-driven work frequently cannot be.

"Plot-driven" doesn't mean the plot doesn't make sense or the characters behave illogically or are passive. It means the plot is the primary focus of the story. It doesn't necessarily mean there's no character development (although that can happen). It does mean that everything in the story should advance the plot.

The plot can be advanced through character development which leads the reader to better understand such-and-such character and why he/she makes certain decisions that advance or resolve the plot.