What is The Difference Between Plot-Driven And Character-Driven?

Although we have gone over story structure previously, it is worth understanding the difference between a plot-driven and character-driven story. This is largely because this difference will frame the type of story you want to tell and the way readers interact with each scene.

To illustrate the point, answer the following questions:

• Think of your favorite book; what is your absolute favorite scene?

• Why might movies adapted from books choose to keep some scenes and not others?

• Think of a book you didn’t like. What are some scenes that didn’t resonate with you? Why?

Did any connections jump out at you when you answered the above questions?

Oftentimes, your personal preference will showcase through your choice between a character-driven story or a plot-driven story. Some people like action and adventure, while others like introspection. While stories can obviously have a mix of both, it is the way these mechanics are used that will determine the difference.

Before we break down these nuances, consider the following:

• What are you trying to communicate to your audience?

• How do you do this through your story?

For instance, you may want to write a romance that shares your idea of love conquering all, which you may do through an exploration of two characters.

Or you may want to write a piece of literary fiction loosely based on your childhood adventures, thus creating a tale involving a group of kids.

No matter what you decide to write about, it is vital to think of the following:

• What story are you trying to tell?

• Who are you writing for?

• What do you expect them to think about after reading?

Once you answer these questions, you can then think of how you want to tell your story; or decide whether to use a plot-driven or character-driven tale. 

Plot-Driven Stories

A plot is a series of actions and consequences combined to make a story. 

Plots can be complex, like so: 

• Multiple characters attempt to overthrow the King and take over the throne. 

• After a woman’s body is found, the townspeople begin to blame each other for her murder.  

• A meteor is about to hit Earth, and there is only one super complicated way to stop it.

They can also be easy to understand and over quickly:

• To save a princess, a dragon must be defeated.

• Multiple people stay at a haunted house. It doesn't end well.

• A major bank heist takes place. Will the police intervene? 

While all stories have a plot, it is plot-driven stories that are solely focused on them.

While there can be one character or many, the audience is more concerned about the activities and events that are taking place.

• Who will overthrow the King?

• Can the house be cleansed of evil? 

The answer to these questions is what propels the audience forward.

Of course, you can also remove a character from the story, but the plot should remain the same. For instance, it does not have to be a knight that saves the princess.

It could be another dragon, or the King, or a good-hearted goblin. 

In a similar vein, your bank heist can take place in the 1920s, or it can occur in the 2010s. The ensemble team can include a couple of military operatives or a team of former detectives.

It can even include a group of clowns that have honed some fascinating skills over the years.

Understanding the plot will not only help you write fantastic action scenes, including fight scenes, but you can understand why your audience wants to read your work.

No matter how much you change the characters or tweak internal elements, the main plot remains the same – a group of characters will rob a bank.

The audience is only considered whether they will get caught (the central part of the plot). 

With character-driven stories, the opposite occurs.  

Character-Driven Stories

In a character-driven story, the focus should be solely on the character(s).

Yes, it is possible to have a rich, character-driven story with multiple characters, but your goal should be to have your audience connect with them emotionally.

So here are some questions you can think about:

• What does this character want?

• What steps can they take to get it?

• What obstacles are in their way?

• What are their emotional needs that might complicate the story? 

Character-driven stories are all about allowing your audience to step inside their world and understand their needs fully.

It is those internal conflicts and their emotional needs/wants that drive the plot along.  It is for this reason that it is also important to understand each character’s perspective and how they relate to your story.

For instance, if you have a story that focuses on a character's climb out of poverty, it is possible to change the plot, but not the character. You could, for instance, have a character come out of a dysfunctional, abusive environment with their parents or choose to have them survive it alone.

It can be in the United States, South Africa, Australia, etc. You can also change how they become rich – winning the lottery, creating a new product, getting an inheritance, etc. 

No matter what you change in the above plot, the story's core remains the same – the character goes from poverty to wealth abundance. This "rags to riches" trope is a popular one because it allows you to solely focus on a character, which will enable you to explore something about the human condition. 

For example, you may want to commentate on the unfairness of wealth inequality, or you might instead focus on the corrupting power wealth has. You can even focus on the character’s fall from grace after becoming wealthy.

No matter what your plot is, a character-driven story allows you to share your personal views on human life with your audience. 

Knowing the difference between these two is helpful so that you understand what parts of the plot might be most memorable for your audience and help frame how you plan out your novel overall. If you have a plot-driven story, then your audience may likely notice the action.

However, if you have a character-driven story, then your audience might be more concerned with how the character(s) develops over the course of the novel.

Quiz Break

Before we dive into the nuances of creating dynamic and memorable plots, let’s take a fun quiz to test your knowledge of plot-driven versus character-driven plots.

Can’t watch the video above? Here is the transcript:

Are the following movie concepts driven by plot or character?

• A group of teens talk about their problems during detention.

• A kid defends his home from burglars during Christmas.

• A bunch of marvelous superheroes band together to save the universe.

• A bitter man squashes his son’s football dreams.

• A cowboy must accept new changes when a spaceman shows up.

• A Shark must be stopped before it eats everyone.

• A man comes to terms with his own mortality when he cheats death.

• A teenager is accidentally sent to the future.

• A scientist resurrects dinosaurs and starts a theme park. Bad idea.

• A boxer must battle more than his opponents while working towards the middleweight championship.

Here are the answers:

• The Breakfast Club – Character Driven

• Home Alone – Plot Driven

• The Avengers – Plot Driven

• Fences – Character Driven

• Toy Story – Character Driven

• Jaws – Plot Driven

• Soul – Character Driven

• Back to the Future – Plot Driven

• Jurassic Park – Plot Driven

• Raging Bull – Character Driven

How did you do? Hopefully, you were able to knock it out of the park!

If not, you may want to spend time considering what areas of these movie plots made you think it was more character or more plot-oriented.

What kind of plot will you write?

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