What type of writer are you?

[yoda47]

So I'm curious, what type of writer are you?

- Character first
- Plot driven

(Yes, I've been reading Jeff's book...)

[yoda47]

I'm definitely a character first writer. I love coming up with different characters and exploring what each of them is like.

Figuring out what to have them do though can sometimes be a bit of a challenge.

[tris]

Interesting question. I guess I'm character driven, but since the problem and character usually arrive simultaneously in my swiss-cheese brain, maybe that just classifies me as schizophrenic?

I'm not an outline type of writer, though. The plot drops into my brain like scenes from a movie and then I have to plod through the process of tying everything up.

Interesting note, though. In my current WIP I wrote two whole chapters without a name for my heroine. I knew what she looked like, and what she would do in any given situation, but no name.

Now on the other hand for a story idea that's about as substantial as fog, I've got a name and the plot is still nebulous. But since I don't know yet what the character looks like, I guess that's okay. (grin)

I do like fleshing out characters and seeing what makes them tick and where their point of heroism lies.

I once heard a writing instructor say that a plot is an obstacle course. Just keep throwing obstacles in your hero's path to accomplish what he wants to do (or get). The more obstacles he has to overcome the more tension in the plot. (Yes, I like to keep things simple).

[birdnerd]

Neither of the above. First I come up with a basic premise, then interlace world building and character design, then rough out the plot, then go back and figure out what other characters I need.

We knew I was an odd duck.

[choosybeggar]

Hmm. I have to say I'm an option not mentioned yet. I'm all three. Three, you say?

I start with characters. With a foggy view of what's before, I create their backstory. The character-building creates the first solid plot, which then transitions to working on the SETTING. The setting may provide more basis for either plot or characters, and so on it goes. I kind of go in circles. One leads to another leads to another...

[Heather Titus]

I think I'm a mix. The plot usually jumps into my head first, but I know next to nothing about--just an interesting situation that I could drop a character in. Then the characters will usually start showing up--some ready to divulge everything about themselves and some so quiet I have to dig and prod even just to get their full name--and as I develop the characters, more obstacles and situations start presenting themselves in the plot.

[j2starshine]

I'm plot driven. But I think that changes sometimes depending on what idea pops into my head first and then it goes back to plot. The last couple of books I've outlined started with a premise though...hmmm...

[yoda47]

It's fascinating to see how different God made each of us.

In some ways, I kind of envy those of you who can come up with a plot or outline. I just start writing and see what the characters do next. It's the most fun when they run away and start doing things on there own and I have to type fast to keep up with them!

I usually do try to make an outline when I'm done though, to make sure the plot makes sense, and to ensure I've both followed up on any plants I've made, and to ensure that I've not pulled something out of of nowhere.

[tris]

yoda47
That's typically known as "pantsters" because we write by the seat of our pants....and welcome to the club. But even pantsters need to keep a sharp eye out of POV switches, plot holes and things that just don't make sense -- like using one name for a character at the beginning of the saga and switching names mid-stream with no rational explanation.

Challenging, it is!

[yoda47]

like using one name for a character at the beginning of the saga and switching names mid-stream with no rational explanation.

That happened to me! I have a character that I wanted to name Jack, but I kept typing Jake. I got done with the book, went through the first editing pass, and had about half of each name.

So I gave up and re-named him Jake.

[Cat]

I generally start with a sentence - either a description of a place or person, or a character's thought - and then brainstorm ideas. After that, I go to paper and pen and draft an outline. Then I'm ready to start writing. I generally find that I have to start creating a world about halfway through, and my writing stalls. Bummer.

[Kessie]

Character-driven, definitely. If I don't like my characters, the plot doesn't work. Usually I come up with some adventure for them to have. "Oh, wouldn't it be awesome if, like, they visited this world that was all blown to bits!" Or, "This character annoys me because he's so cocky ... let's see how cocky he is if he gets randomly kidnapped!"

Or the characters start talking and a whole story erupts.

[Torrias]

Definitely character, for me. A character forms in my head, and I want to take up residence in his head and tell what goes on. I also have a habit of throwing a rather secondary character into an in-progress story for a particular cut-and-dried purpose, then he tells me his entire life story and I feel the need to go write that....Sigh. Not to mention the fact that "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end," such that I end up having to repeatedly go back in history and tell why the present is how it is, and then go tell why that past was how it was, all the way back to the original Creation (in my fantasy world) and inception of spiritual warfare, because all of existence really is one continuous multi-layered story with only one beginning anyway....And all because I come up with a few characters I really like and want to tell about their romps and trials. Small wonder I'm bogged down.

[rjj7]

I always start with a single concept. Sometimes it has to do with a character, sometimes a plot, sometimes a world.

Secondly, regardless of what the original concept was, I think of a character to help implement/illustrate it. I also come up with a general plot idea.

After developing a general idea for main character and story, I set about making characters in earnest, each one usually contributing a little something to the plot.

After several months of that, I sit down, assemble my cast, and begin the painful process of filling in all the details of the plot. Sometimes I have to change or remove a character, but since I can't go on writing forever without a concrete outline, I have to do it. If it doesn't make the outline, it won't make the book.


I guess that makes me primarily character driven; even if I start out with a plot idea, the characters are filled in before the plot is.

[newburydave]

Now that you ask the question I'm a bit perplexed.

I always thought I was a Plot driven writer, being an Engineer by trade back when I worked in industry; but now that I think about it I think I may actually be a Character Driven writer.

I started out to write Christian themed Sf because I became convinced the Lord had called me to writing since I wasn't strong enough the take the physical strain of preaching any more. My concept of how to do this (Christian themed for the secular Sf marketplace) was to write Christian Characters into typical Space Opera and Near Future techno thrillers.

Now that I think about it I usually start with the concept of a Christian confronting a challenge and the plot "writes itself" from that confrontation. I've always had the experience that the characters "talk to me" as I write, telling me the story they want to live.

Okay, before you send in the shrinks I've found a lot of other writers who have the same experience.

Learning the craft of writing over the last three years kind of obscured these facts and left me thinking "Plot first" because after all the books said that's how all engineers approach writing. That misapprehension lasted because I was so focused on technique and craft that I didn't really step back to look at myself objectively, until now.

I remember way back when I started critiquing another writer I collaborated with because he only thought in terms of hardware and military campaigns, never in terms of the characters in his stories.

Well I guess I'm a both/and writer. This is very liberating. I'm still reading Jeff's book and the "Please Understand Me" book that he recommends but now I see that it's a refinement not a revolution. My supporting characters need some work, and my main POV characters shouldn't all act and think just like me, but in general I guess I'm further up the road than I originally thought.

Thanks for the question Yoda74 (74th knowing one).

SGD
dave