Someone once told me that there were three kinds of stories. What I think they meant was that stories are driven by three different core elements. That’s not quite right either. But closer…maybe:
- Character Driven
- Plot Driven
- Setting Driven
At the time this made absolutely no sense to me. It was as incomprehensible as a literature teacher telling me that there was internal conflict and external conflict and a story could have either or both.
I was bothered by this concept because most fiction has all three of the above elements. It’s what makes a story, right? I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes, so I didn’t understand. It’s taken me almost tweny years to figure this out.
I think I’ve got it though. I think I finally understand. You can tell which of the above elements drive a story, because the other two exist to support it. Sometimes it’s well-hidden. I’m not even interested in picking apart countless of books and movies to figure out which is which. And in movies, sometimes it’s all just eye-candy driven, but that’s a different post that I won’t write because I’m not Michael Bay.
Lord of the Rings. Setting driven. The characters and plot exist solely to support the world. Middle Earth existed before they did and will continue to exist after.
Dune. Plot driven. Plots within plots. The characters, the planets, they all exist solely to move this intricate storyline forward. The main characters all but admit this. The joy of being truly omniscient, I suppose.
My Sister’s Keeper. Character driven. The conflict and the world were created specifically to give the characters something to react to. The story was not about the choice that had to be made, but about how the characters all reacted to it. How it impacted them. Which, I suppose, is why the ending was all right, because the story wasn’t actually about the choice…but different rant I’ve covered elsewhere.
I’m all about character driven. It’s how come I can say I allow dialogue with my characters. I figure out what would cause them the most grief, what would be hardest for them to overcome, and what they’re most blind to about themselves. Them figuring those things out is a large chunk of story to me.
Sweetie is all about plot driven. Characters exist to advance a plot, and if they don’t do their job, they get removed or replaced. Sweetie is also a little bit world driven, because world-building is half the fun.
Fortunately, we spend a lot of time brainstorming and most of my stories get all three elements at the end of the day. I’m not allowed to let my characters run rampant just because I like to torture them emotionally. I’m required to say why, and create back-story around it, and say how it’s going to advance things.
What about you? Is your preference character, plot, or world-driven? And is it different for what you write versus what you read?
Character every time. I never know what the story will be about. I just have characters who do stuff. Often stuff that surprises me….
I tend to be character driven with plot coming in second and the setting is something I don’t really focus on much. My bf is very much driven by setting first, then plot and character. He world builds like crazy, and enjoys doing so. Only after that does he figure out the story and a character to use to tell the story. Whereas, I get a character in my head and then figure out their story with the setting as more of a backdrop.
I’d also consider Theme as a type, since some literary fiction focuses on a theme. Just a thought.