Characters or plot first?

[Wikiwalker]

I'm kind of new here, but I have noticed that a lot of people here are writers like me, and I was wondering whether the other writers on this site start out by thinking of a plot and then making characters to go with it, or by thinking of characters and then making a plot for them to act in, or even if you think of both at once or some other way I haven't thought of yet. This is a thread to talk about the beginning of your creative process.

I guess I'll get things started.

I almost always start with the characters, I'll think of one or two and then the others come as I figure out back stories for the original characters. The plot comes from all the characters interacting and some very hard brain-storming sessions. Once or twice I have started by thinking of a plot, but I usually make my characters first.

Your turn

[ShiroiHikari]

I've always started with a couple of characters and a very vague plot concept, and then take it from there.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Depends on what you're writing. Generally, though, I'm a plot first guy. I need to know where it's starting and where it's ending. The people involved will grow naturally out of that, and the ending may adjust by the time I'm through depending on who those people become.

[Tsukuyomi]

That's a good question ^__^

For me, it's sometimes the plot that comes first, but then again sometimes I'll come up with a character first and then the plot will start to form ^^

Most of the time, it's some kind of plot first ^^

[Peanut]

I've always started with a couple of characters and a very vague plot concept, and then take it from there.

I tend to do this however, occasionally I will start with a group of characters or character and then make the plot. It sort of depends on what I'm writing...

[rocklobster]

For me, it's the plot. Although, once I come up with the characters, they pretty much take over. It's better that way.

[CrimsonRyu17]

Ah. Characters make the story vs. Story makes the characters.

I prefer the former but still keep into consideration the story. You can have awesome characters but if they don't do anything, then what makes them awesome in the first place?

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Personally, I almost feel that both should arise at the same time.

[LadyRushia]

Depends on the story. Most times, I get a character or two in my head with a bit of their personal story, which grows to become the plot. Other times, I think "I want to write a story where this, this, and this happens," but that doesn't happen too often.

[Ante Bellum]

Definitely characters first. My characters are even still developing, and I'm working on developing the world, and after that is all done then I will work out a plot...Then, maybe, finally, I'll start writing. I made the mistake of writing first before planning out a plot/characters, and since then a lot has changed.

[Anystazya]

I usually start with some sort of idea for a plot. When I used to draw more, I'd draw characters, develop their personality sort of based on how I drew them, and while doing that, I would think of a plot to put the characters in. Right now, however, I tend to get an idea of the plot first. I wouldn't come up with my entire plot without figuring out the characters, or at least a couple of the main ones. I don't always have names for them, but I have their basic personality traits down as I go along with planning out the plot.

[Lynna]

a bit of both for me

[mechana2015]

I often find that I start to write a story with a plot in mind. Then the characters start driving the plot and it changes to meet their personalities and abilities.

[Esoteric]

I often find that I start to write a story with a plot in mind. Then the characters start driving the plot and it changes to meet their personalities and abilities.

Ditto. I always start with a substantial plot and rudimentary characters. As I write, the characters develop and start complicating/altering the plot. They improve each other. If you ask me which is more important, I'll reply by asking which blade on a pair of scissors is more important. Both, equally.

[Lilac#18]

I had started on the characters on my first and only story (only story for now) at 14. I was on and off writing my story and have stopped for years. I need to work on coming up with the plots more and my writing skills, as well as the personalities. I haven't posted any stories here before. I don't know if they'll be good enough.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

The characters are what pushes the plot forward necessarily, but good characters without a plot just do nothing, regardless of how interesting they are. As I said before, I think in my writing process one needs to follow directly alongside the other. They sprout at the same time for me.

[ich1990]

Characters.

Take "Notes from Underground" by Fyodor Dostoevsky for an example. During the first half of the book the Underground Man literally does nothing but babble. There isn't anything that is remotely a plot, yet the character is awesome enough that it doesn't matter.

Both are generally important, though.

EDIT:

I read the OP wrong. The above is a response to what I think are most important in a book. In writing, I usually come up with a few strong characters I like, then go with a plot that tries to be fit to them. Side characters are pretty much disposable and secondary to plot demands.

[Blacklight]

Come to think of it... I think most of the time, I'm coming up with the characters being in certain situations, and then comes a little more details about the characters, and then the plot centering around the characters. For me, my stories can't have much of a plot without the characters.
I've begun writing a fairly recent idea as a story, and I was mostly thinking about the characters, and putting together the plot as I was writing. (although, I AM still figuring out both.)
Sometimes though, I think, "hey, maybe I'll write a story like this, and then there will be characters like this".

So, in short, I guess I'd say characters for the most part.
The thing being, I usually think of a character in certain situations, then sometimes, I come up with something I'd want a story to be about, and then add characters to it.
(Actually, it's a little hard for me to explain...)

[Fish and Chips]

It's variable, really. Sometimes I'll be struck with a good idea for a story, or a scene, and then just draw up characters to fit the roles I need, though ideally somewhere along the way they grow a personality of their own. Other times I'll have a collection of characters I think would have good chemistry if used in the same narrative, so I'll experiment and see what I get.

[uc pseudonym]

The analogy I would use for myself is a house of cards. Before I start writing, an idea is fairly nebulous and includes a bunch of characters and plot ideas. All of them have to balance against one another or things fall apart and I don't start writing.

However, I'm still more of a plot-oriented person. While the main actors are always an integral part of the story, I'm more likely to create new characters based on the plot than I am to create/alter the plot based on characters. When a story does start with characters, it's because those characters carry with them the seed of the plot.

[the_wolfs_howl]

How I start a story varies from one to another. I guess the way you could say it would be that I start with an idea. Sometimes it's a plot, sometimes a character, sometimes both, sometimes just a feeling. My first "real" story started with a character - I decided I'd like to write a story about a coward, so then I looked at some book covers till I found one who looked pretty good (and afraid), and started basing my character off that, and him being a coward and why he's that way led to the entire story. With the most recent bit of writing I've done, I got an idea for a secret organization of spy agents who disguise themselves as nuns, and I had the basic gist of the plot figured out before I came up with the main characters. And in my story The Black Dragon, it started with just an irrepressible urge to write a dragon rider story because I was irritated with the book I was reading at the time, Dragonflight. The characters and plot sort of fell into my lap that time.

But I've noticed that no matter how I start, once I've got a handle on the story, I always have to get the characters pinned down first. The first draft of a story almost always consists of character interactions for me. They might not be doing anything much, but I'll have tons of conversations and emotions and working out their personalities and relationships. Because the characters should be the ones driving the plot (since the other way around has the danger of characters doing things just because the plot demands it of them, rather than it coming from their actual motivations), once I've got my characters down pat, I can start beefing up the plot.

And I'm glad you mentioned Notes from Underground, ich. That's one of my all-time favorite books, precisely for the reason you mentioned.

[Davidizer13]

I've tried doing both, and I prefer doing the plot and/or setting first, since I'm better at that than making characters. One story, I tried doing the characters first, and then moved onto the plot. Basically, I had an idea about the beginning and the ending, but couldn't get the two connected.

So now, in my newest project, I'm trying to do a plot first, and it's working a lot better. So far, I've got a world, but nobody to be a part of it, aside from a couple broad concepts.

My advice? Try both, and see which one you like the most, and which one gets you results. Make a world; describe it in detail. See what you can do with what you set up, and you'll be able to generate some potential plots. If it's speculative fiction (sci-fi, alternate history, fantasy, etc.) or even something like historical fiction, try to imagine what life would be like in the setting you make up.

Make some characters; think about their motivations, their backgrounds, personalities, etc. Think about how they would interact; what conflicts and differences would they have, and how could they resolve them? What would a conversation between you and them be like?

What will the setting do to them, and what will they do to the setting? No matter which path you pick, you'll get better at both.

One book that might be a big help to you is Making Comics by Scott McCloud. It's in comic book form, and it's a very entertaining read. Despite its name and format, though, it explains more than just art, drawing technique and formatting (though it does a great job of that). After all, comics/manga are a medium of telling a story, and building a setting and people to exist in it are universal to all storytelling.

[Bobtheduck]

I was wondering whether the other writers on this site start out by thinking of a plot and then making characters to go with it, or by thinking of characters and then making a plot for them to act in, or even if you think of both at once or some other way I haven't thought of yet.

The way I write (and the way I usually create in general, which doesn't make for a good commercial artist) is I write something and see what the story seems like it's going to do (or, in the case of designs, "what does this look like it may end up being")

My current story is VERY event focused. My next one will be "What can I do to these characters to get them to this place" so it's still sort of event focused, but not in the same way. It'll be a while before I write anything that's purely focused on Characters, though it's important to pay close attention to them even if the events are more important in that particular story.

[Blacklight]

Scratch what I said before, what I really should have said was:
I usually tend to put together the characters before the plot ideas, but recently, I've been coming up more with a story idea I would like to write, and then having trouble constructing the characters in the story, but I can't very well continue with the plot without knowing what the characters are like.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I think of the plot and themes (and a very basic outline of the main character) first but place heavy emphasis on character development when writing my W.I.P.

[Winry]

I usually have at least the main character(s) in mind before developing a plot.

[Atria35]

For me, it's the characters first. And I really get involved in their personalities, histories, etc. I always figured that it's easier to create a story around the characters, than shoehorn characters into a set plot. Having a vague plot concept isn't terrible, though, but depending on how your characters evolve, the plot can then change to fit that new personality.

[Adorima]

Definitely characters come to mind more easily for me. I just get inspired thinking about how this person would walk, smile, answer a question or just look at you and that expands into ideas of how they became the way they are. Why do they do what they do? Most of my stories are character driven, so that would explain it.

[mastersquirrel]

If you ask me which is more important, I'll reply by asking which blade on a pair of scissors is more important. Both, equally.

That is an awesome analogy.

I have yet to fully realize a story yet, but I can tell you that each of them started differently. Many of them started with characters first and they developed a story, but more than a few of my ideas started with the plot and generated characters to drive it. It's really a matter of finding what works for you.

[Kung_Fu_Master]

Characters drive plot, Plot leads characters. They are both two sides of the same coin. Some like heads, some like tails, and some like the edge. It doesn't matter where you start because if you want it to be good you'll end up on the other side anyways.

I usually write something like Sci-fantasy type stories and since they don't live in the same universe as we do I will start on designing their worlds mechanics(basically the edge and/or center of the coin. Our world can be used in the same reference.) and from there both characters and plot take shape. Which one I start with depends on which one comes to me first and then I just flip between the two where and when it needs work.