What drives your story – character or plot?

What is your writing style? What drives your story? Is it character- or plot-driven? Do you know what that means? I think when we read a book and we like that style, we intuitively know what we like, but these two terms are a bit confusing. At least for me!

Let’s look at each and I’ll give some examples.

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What drives your story – character-driven

Character-driven stories focus on the internal conflicts of the character. According to a MasterClass post, ” A character-driven plot is the type of story that is driven by emotion.” There is a rich, deep backstory, and the writer focuses on that inner conflict of the character. The struggles of your main character are what guide the novel.

In other words, what drives your story is your character.

I love these kinds of novels! Some examples include:

• Where the Crawdads Sing
• Big Little Lies
• The Catcher in the Rye
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• The Great Gatsby

To decide if a novel is character-driven, the post A Guide to Character-Driven vs Plot-Driven Stories says, “A good way to figure out the answer is to ask yourself if you were more impacted by the characters than the specific things that they experienced. If so, then the piece was probably character driven.”

What drives your story – plot-driven

Plot-driven stories have great characters, but they focus on plot and story structure. They have plot twists and external conflict. The goal of plot-driven stories is focused on the development of a situation.

These examples will make this pretty clear:

• Jurassic Park
• Gone Girl
• The Da Vinci Code
• The Maze Runner

So, what drives your story is your plot.

Can novels be both character- and plot-driven?

The blog post Character-Driven Vs. Plot Driven: Which is Best says, “Whereas plot-driven stories focus on a set of choices that a character must make, a character-driven story focuses on how the character arrives at a particular choice. “

So, I think it’s safe to say that all novels have both character and plot (of course), but each tends to lean one way or the other depending on the writer and the intent of the story. As the writer, you get to decide!

Scary? Yes! But there’s so much freedom in writing, and I think getting to choose how you focus your story is amazing! I did find this test that can help you narrow down whether, as a writer, you’re character- or plot-driven. If you take it, I’d love to hear the results!

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Read What is a Cozy? to learn more about cozy mysteries and read Writing Conflict to learn more on how to do it! Then, follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram, and subscribe to my newsletter to keep up with news about my book and any special offers!

Hi, I’m Jen! I’ve been married 37 years, have 5 amazing kids and 2 adorable grandkids and one on the way. I homeschooled our three youngest children. I used to blog about homeschooling and taught Oral Communication as an adjunct instructor for over 5 years.

Jen Dodrill Writes is born of a passion of mine – to write a novel! When I’m not working, you’ll find me writing, spending time with my family, or curled up on the couch reading and drinking a mug of dark roast coffee. (Don’t forget to check out my mug shop – JDMugs!)