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Does Your Plot Suit Your Characters And Vice-Versa?

by: Nick Vernon

Creative Writing Tips �

When an idea comes to us for a short story, we either think of a story line first or a character first. Whichever we think of first, and later on build, we have to make sure the plot and the character suit each other.

Example one � We think of a story line first.

Your story is set in a rural area. A company opens a factory and employs workers from that small town. The residents welcome this, as there aren�t many jobs going around. The management takes advantage of that fact and exploit the workers.

Using a technicality in the system, perhaps listing them under different job titles in their books, they pay them less than they are entitled. Your main character sees this injustice and leads the workers to rebel against the management.

Now in a plot like this you will need your main character to posses certain qualities. Like�

Leadership

To be able to lead the people to rebel.

Convincing

The workers are from a rural area. Some might be uneducated and not aware of their rights. The main character has to convince them that what the management is doing, is wrong.

Persuader

Living in a rural area, jobs are hard to find. Most of the workers will view the company as their saviour. Their thinking will be that receiving little money is better than none at all. The main character has to persuade them that being in a rural area the company needs them as much as the workers need the company.

Strong Personality & Confident

We need a strong character that will see things through to the end. We don�t want someone giving up when things get tough. He will also need to be confident that he is doing the right thing (not to make things worse for the workers) and believes in himself (knowing what he�s doing is right).

Strong people skills

To be able to speak and relate to people on all levels.

Negotiator

To negotiate a solution with management and workers.

Public speaker skills

To be able to address this mass group of workers, in a voice that is confident, persuading, authoritative etc.

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So these are the qualities we will need our character to have.

Now let�s see if we can make him believable. Remember he lives in the same rural area, so what makes him different from the rest of the workers who are willing to settle for less?

I could say he recently move to that rural area from the city. He used to work as a union leader and wanted to get out of the rat race. But having fought for workers rights his entire career, he can�t stand now to see injustices and comes to the decision to fight for them and himself.

So this character would suit our plot because we need someone like him for our story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Example two � Thinking of a character first

We notice a man on the street. Something about him triggers our interest so we decide to write about him in a short story. So at this point we will build the character first and then work a story around him.

Let�s go back to where we saw him�

He�s walking briskly along a busy street. He�s in a hurry. He�s dressed in a three-piece suit, which indicates he might be a businessman. He�s got a stack of documents under his arm; a briefcase in his left hand and his right hand is occupied by holding the phone to his ear, which he�s shouting into.

Let�s observe him closer�

He�s in his mid thirties. He looks authoritative. Perhaps he has his own business. Why is he shouting into the phone? Perhaps one of his employees made a mistake, which has cost the character a lot of money.

What if this employee made the mistake on purpose? What if he�s secretly working for the opposition, planted to destroy the main character�s company? What if the owner of that opposing company is the main character�s own brother? Etc�

So as we analyze this character and ask questions about him, our plot begins to unfold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Plots and characters have to suit each other.

When we have finished plotting and are ready to write the story, they shouldn�t be ill-fitting pieces of a puzzle � They should be a perfect match.

Does your plot suit your characters and vice-versa?

About The Author

Besides his passion for writing, Nick Vernon runs an online gift site where you will find gift information, articles and readers� funny stories. Visit http://www.we-recommend.com

This article was posted on August 24, 2004

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More Article Pages 1 - 2

Creative Writing Tips - Have You Established Your Main Character At The Start?
by: Nick Vernon

In the beginning of your story you have to grab your readers� interest and sustain it till the end. Our hook is our character. Readers keep on reading to find out more about the character. To see what he�ll do in the story; how he�ll solve his problems. What his goals are and whether he�ll achieve them.

And because our character is the reason readers become hooked on our stories, establishing him at the start is a must in a short story. And it is essential to establish him at the start because we don�t have the capacity in our limited word length to introduce him at our leisure.

The bond between readers and character has to be developed almost immediately.

You might have a few characters though. How do you decide who your main character will be? A main character is one that drives the story.

Think of it this way� If we were to take him away, there will be no story because it�s his story we are telling. The story will unfold by what is happening or what has happened to him.

When you establish who your main character will be, the next thing to do is to find which of your characters is in the best position to tell the story. Will your main character tell his story or will you give that role to another character?

This is what we call Viewpoint and what we�ll see in more detail in proceeding chapters.

Your main character isn�t necessarily the one who is telling the story; he might not even appear in our story �physically� but will be there through the thoughts of others. So the viewpoint character might be a secondary character.

Whoever is telling the story is the viewpoint character.

The viewpoint character gives the coloring of the story. Whatever this characters says, we will believe. It may or may not be true, according to the main character, but because he isn�t there �physically� to voice his opinions, we will have to take the viewpoint character�s word for it.

In a novel you can play around with viewpoint. You can have several viewpoint characters. In a short story it works best with one.

So your main character, whether he�ll be telling his own story or someone else will be doing it for him, has to be established at the start of your story.

Having said that, let�s see the reasons why the main character may not be telling his own story...

Perhaps our main character is one that readers won�t sympathize or empathize with.
Or the main character will not view highly with our readers
Or the viewpoint character knows all the facts and can tell the story better
Etc.

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Let me give you an example of a secondary character telling the story of a main character�

Let�s say your secondary character is a psychiatrist and the main character is the patient. Depending on what�s going to go on in the story, we�ll have to choose who�s in a better position to tell it. In this case, I will choose the psychiatrist.

I�ve done this because the patient is confused, being the one with the problems. The psychiatrist knows all the facts and his opinions will make things clearer to readers.

So, as the secondary character (the psychiatrist) unravels the story, we�ll become involved in the main character because it�s the main character�s story that is been told.

This may get a little confusing to the beginner writer. As they write they will have to keep in mind that the secondary character, although he�s telling the story, is NOT our main character.

The secondary character is there to do perform a task. He�s only the voice. It�s the main character we�ll become involved with.

A secondary character doesn�t play such an important role as a main character does. Therefore, information about secondary characters should be kept to a minimum. It�s not his story � it�s the main character�s story and the spotlight must, most times, be kept on the main character.

Take the above example for instance. It�s no relevance to the story how the psychiatrist started his career or where he received his diploma � what�s important, is what he has to say about the main character, his patient.

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Introduce your main character straight away, as close to the beginning of the story that�s possible. Enable your readers to form a bond and that will keep them hooked.

Is your main character established at the start of your story?

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