Are You Plot or Characters Driven in your writing?

We have had discussions in our writer’s group about whether or not to outline before writing a story. We have also asked the question you a plot-driven or a character-driven writer? This is purely up to the writer involved as there is no completely right or completely wrong way to create your stories. Some writers just naturally think about a situation and build characters interacting in the scene while others create characters and create the scene for them to interact with.

For outlining that is also up to the individual as well. Some people just need the structure of the outline so that they do not get lost in the details. Others just like to write until they get to the end letting the characters tell them where they are going. Again, neither one is right or wrong just different for each person. There are lots of resources online to help you with either way you create.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-develop-fictional-characters

Here are a couple of Plot Points I created for those same fifth graders that you might find useful.

Plot Point One – Start your story with lots of energy! Have fun! Be entertaining!
Plot Point Two – Middle of your story/ the arc – this is where things get worse, a conflict, a point of seemingly no return. Remember things get worse before they get better.
Plot Point Three – Character has to decide what to do. It should end happily. The problem is solved and your character has possibly changed because of it.

Point Three is probably going to cause quite a debate and it really should. Almost nothing in real life comes out happily. But in some genres, it is a requirement. Bad guys are just not allowed to win and the main character always has to learn something, overcome something and emerge on the other side as the victor.

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