If you have a chance to stop by IWSG today, I'm talking about how you decide which character is the main character in your story. Love to read your comments. One more week until the Theme Reveal for the A to Z Challenge. You still have time to sign up right here.
Today I'm posing the question to all of you. Which come first for you as a writer? The plot or the character? When your muse speaks to you, does it introduce a tortured soul struggling to overcome a painful experience or safe the world? Or does a complicated scenario or plot come to you and you have to invent the character smart enough to solve the mystery or strong enough to save the day?
For my science fiction romances, my characters are only vague ideas, but the difficulties facing them are the first clear thing I figure out along with their futuristic world. The enemy usually comes to me first and from there I figure out the heroes and heroines needed to defeat them.
For my epic fantasy series, I always fully imagine the protagonist first and the world and antagonist develop only after I understand the main character. Not sure why, but perhaps it's because in epic fantasy series, the challenges usually multiple and the stakes get higher as the series continue.
Hopefully, you'll be safe and careful on St. Patty's Day tomorrow. No green beer for me but I might lift a glass of wine in a toast.
I put the snow shovels away this past weekend and a few bulbs are pushing green shoots up through the warming soil.
In case you thought this winter was bad, at least this factoid from The Old Farmer's Almanac hasn't happened to you.
Once every 180 years, a meteorite might strike someone on Earth.
How do write, chicken or egg first? Drinking any green beer tomorrow? Any signs of spring at your house? Have your theme ready? Ever dodge a meteorite?
I might be a little late responding to comments and visiting blogs today. I returned my daughter to Boston after spring break yesterday and stay overnight for a mom/daughter sleepover.
24 comments:
I'm strictly a plot-first person. It's the turn of events that gets me intrigued enough to write the story. The characters develop as the story unfolds.
Spring is definitely here in Texas. The trees are blooming and the flower bulbs have opened up. Finally! They started budding two weeks ago and I was afraid that freak freeze might've done them in.
I always develop the characters first.
Spring has hit here. We have flowers coming up everywhere.
Overall, I would say the characters come first for me, but sometimes with my flash fiction, the moment/scene/plot hits me harder.
And yeh on putting away those snow shovels!
Either I get hit by a really intriguing character and then flesh out a plot, or a really intriguing plot and then I flesh out characters. So I guess I work with both; it just depends on which one strikes first.
And no green beer for me. I like my beer, uh, beer colored.
The ending comes to me first, then I design the characters. Plot comes last. If I didn't know the main characters, I couldn't write the plot.
Characters always come first - usually with a spark of emotion and the climax scene :)
Enjoy the time with your daughter! Not a writer, but definitely spring is in the air around us with pleasant weather :) Got my theme for A/Z and only need 6 more written :)
betty
I get the story down mainly first, from beginning to end, then the characters fill in as away I go.
I've only written two stories (one of which I never finished), but that one was more about the plot. Not saying that was a bad way to go, but more like I didn't know what I was doing. At all.
The second one began with the idea of the MC and worked out from there. It's in revisions, but it's a complete work.
For my last novels the character and story dilemma came at the same time, though both thoroughly evolved over the years while I was writing them. My current WIP started with plot, but it was only after I finally got a grip on who the woman at the center of the story was that it moved forward. So, um, I think they are hand-holders for me. :)
For me, it's always a character and he/she tell him his/her story. :)
It's usually the plot, but the character is kind of the one whose eyes I see it through, and the more I plot, the more I learn about her/him. But I like your sci-fi way of imagining the problems first. That seems like a good idea.
Be careful about putting away your snow shovel. That's like asking for trouble.
I'm a huge character writer. They always speak to me first and then we figure out their story from there. That's why I pants it! :) The flowers are finally sprouting, and I spent the whole afternoon at the park with my little guy today. Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow!
It all depends on what I'm writing, like, what the story is or how it came to be. I think the plot comes to me more often than the character when I'm writing a screenplay or a treatment. Poetry goes the other way around for me sometimes. Oh how I wish I was ready for the A to Z Challenge. I haven't gotten past the outline of my posts and have some notes for the theme reveal but that's about it. I'll either work on it over the weekend or scram to throw something together at the last minute Sunday night or early Monday morning, I guess. Oh and green beer?! I'll pass on that. Ha!
Glad it's warming up some. For me, my characters appear first and then their problems start piling up.
I have a good idea of where I want my story to go, then I round out my protag, followed by the other main characters. Well, I am this time. I used to just start writing, lol!
Already St Pat's Day here, but celebs took place over the weekend.
Denise :-)
I would say the character comes to me first, followed closely by the main conflict she is going to experience. Then I start writing and see where it goes. I have to revise a lot to get a true picture of the story that wants to be told.
I'm always character first, though I usually have some idea of the plot, at least, parts of it. Our snow is finally starting to melt, but nothing growing yet. Soon! That Farmer's Almanac factoid is a scary thought. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Usually a scenario or an item of interest starts the wheels turning, and the character and sometimes the title comes along with it. I'm a weird person when lightning strikes me. I'll pass on the meteorite striking me. :)
Strangely, all my novels (6) have come to me differently. A combination of plot and character reveal. I do spend a while with the story in my head before I begin writing. I guess I need to make sure it's a viable story before I spend years developing it. Happy St. Paddy's Day!
Interesting question. I usually get an idea for a premise first. Then the characters come along but they usually end up taking over with their own actions!
The plot for sure. It's always the concept for me, first and foremost. But the characters quickly follow. I can whip them up in a heartbeat. In my particular line of work, one has to develop characters you wither love or you love to hate. Then identify the ones you want to kill one at a time. Or two. Or three.
You saw flowers pushing upward? I cannot wait to see that.
My characters come first. Their past, their backgrounds and usually the love interest. The plot is built around them which is probably why I hate editing. Its the part where I go back and make everything tie together and make sense
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