Fellow writers, please answer this?

More on Characters there is this book I ordered off of Amazon its called Plot Versus Character: A Balanced Approach to Writing Great Fiction the author gives tips and stuff that will help writers become better at balancing plot and characters.

Once I had a great idea for a story. It was a mystery, so I made up a cop and tossed him into the story to solve the problem. Trouble was this character was so bland he was bringing the story down with him. I tried writing a character profile and learned a lot about this cop, but he was still something of an enigma. In the end I abandon the whole story. But, the next time I had a mystery idea (for a short story, not a novel) I tossed this cop into it again. He solved the case, and I learned a little about the character. After using him in several other stories I had a much clearer idea of who this character was. I sat down and wrote a story set in his youth during the Tet Offensive in 1968. It was just for my own edification, but turned into one of the best short stories I have ever written. The light went on, and I suddenly knew who this character was and what motivated him. I sat down and started writing the old story I had abandon, and it flowed.

The short answer to your question is I guess I am plot driven, but without understanding the character it is hard to make the plot work.

The plot is the body of the story. The characters are its soul. Both are needed, but I tend to spend more time with characters than with the plot.

I focus on them both equally, but I work on the characters first then the plot. I guess that could make me more character-focused; I dunno.

Both. I make my plot well-detailed & complete, but everyone knows that without good characters you can't have a good book. :3

Personally, I'm character-driven. The characters tell _me_ what should happen. No, I don't mean literally, but I know where they're headed by how they are. Gosh, literally would mean getting just everything they wanted. I agree to torture & torture only!

Happy Fire-Trucking New Year's Eve! ;)

~Silly Turtle

I focus on both of them equally. However, I need to have my characters in mind before I develop my plot. First, I have my characters and spend a lot of time thinking about them. Then, my plot comes in mind and I spend a lot of time on that as well.

I don't want to create a awesome plot and have it super epic then have random characters being thrown into it. They will seem like robots. They won't even seem like characters. I want them to flow into the story. I say, "Would this character do that? No, they wouldn't."

Happy New Year! 2011! =)>

Typically more on the plot.

I focus more on the characters. If my characters were poorly developed, the plot wouldn't have been good neither.

Happy New Year!

For me, they are so inextricably linked that I don't distinguish a difference. The plot wouldn't be there without the characters motivating it, and the characters would be static if the plot didn't change them. I'd say it's mostly the characters, though.

Happy New Year! *raises a glass*