Thursday, January 26, 2012

A Last Visit To Character Vs. Plot

Even I'm now bored with flogging this dead pony, but I wanted to take a look at whether (as I read in another writers blog) certain genres can be generally called character driven while other genres are plot driven. According to aforementioned blog post, Fantasy and Historical were plot driven while Romance was character driven. My question is: Is it that simple and where do the other genres fall?

I am now looking at different genres according to whether they feature extraordinary characters in ordinary situations or vice versa, rather than whether the plot or action drives the characters or if the characters actions drive the plot. Depending on the story in question this may be the same as looking at them in terms of whether the action drives the character or vice versa.

I would agree that Fantasy and Sci-Fi can be seen as plot driven, because the setting or situation is what causes unique problems for the characters. I also agree that much but not all pure romance is character driven, because basic romance really has only one plot. However, there are romance books that have very unique premises and that does drive the character to act certain ways.

So, what about mystery? Depending on the book or story, it could be either. Horror? Same thing. I feel literary fiction is more character driven, because while the plot may be unusual, it is most often caused by the actions of people.

I feel like Paranormal and Urban Fantasy should go under plot driven, but again, it depends on the book. Many of these stories focus on the supernatural elements and how they affect the characters. My novels, and the Southern Vampires Series is the only other one like this that I am familiar with, have a totally mundane setting. In fact, I consider my books to be mysteries, but because there are paranormal elements I am told they are classed as urban fantasy. My books do feature supernatural characters, but they are not neccesarily central to the plot.

So, would this be a case of extraordinary people or extraordinary situation? Most of my characters are mundane and my plots feature mundane occurances, but there are a few extraordinary people involved.
(Note: this is not true of many of my short stories, which center on the characters in my book, but often have supernatural issues as the plot).

I'm afraid I'm going to have to stick with my theory that however mundane or extraordinary a plot or characters may be, the actions of the characters in any situation are what move the story. Ordinary, predictable people who act or react in predictable ways can sabotage even the most facinating plot.

www.daylightsend.weebly.com
www.trustindarkness.weebly.com
www.jennifermballard.com

No comments:

Post a Comment