What according to you is more important than the other in the story, the charact

1. 85

   anusha15posted 12 years ago

   What according to you is more important than the other in the story, the characters or the plot?
   
   Well stories can be categorized into plot driven and character driven, but in general, what do you think? Characters are more important - well defining them, well portraying them or is the plot itself that is more important? It would be really great if you could add an instance, a story line which you enjoyed because it  was plot/character driven, or one which you found full of flaws because it plot/character driven and it that was the reason it got ruined.

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2. 82

   Attikosposted 12 years ago

   I think they're coequal. Good stories build both.

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3. 85

   ComfortBposted 12 years ago

   True, stories can be both plot driven and character driven, but without the plot in place, of what good are the characters? The plot is the structure of the whole story. That's how you know the what, who and where.
   
   Once the plot is in place, then the 'who' can be plugged into the story line.

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4. 76

   Kathleen Cochranposted 12 years ago

   The plot is what happens when you tell your story.  Bring your characters to life and the plot will follow. 
   
   "It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times."  And one of the greatest stories ever told followed through what happened to the people in the story.  - Tale of Two Cities, Dickens.
   
   But this debate will go on as long as there are writers.  We all do things in our own way.

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5. 0

   Phoebe Pikeposted 12 years ago

   A plot cannot truly occur without characters who drive the plot. It's the decisions and actions of characters that make a plot happen. Without a plot, you simply have charaters, nothing more. They would do nothing and that would be the end. They are dependant upon each other to create a story.

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6. 59

   rikabothraposted 12 years ago

   Wow... good question... it really got me thinking. I think I would go with a good plot rather than good characters - I feel, in a way, it is the plot that builds the characters.

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7. 60

   Jarnposted 12 years ago

   I prefer plot-driven stories. They tend to be faster and there's less room for navel-gazing, though that's not to say that it isn't important to have believable characters. Without a plot, what you tend to end up with is a character-study, which usually just bore me to tears.

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8. 0

   Giselle Maineposted 12 years ago

   Definitely plot.  This is probably because I enjoy detective fiction, mystery and suspense... which by nature are plot-driven.

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9. 60

   princess gposted 12 years ago

   I think the characters are always the most important element in a story

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10. 67

    anupmaposted 12 years ago

    I think that without a good plot or character, a story cannot be successful or become popular. Both are part of a good story. The question is like, which hand do you like most. And answer is both hands are important.

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11. 59

    plutopanesposted 12 years ago

    i guess neither of them are important. but some characters are a real pain in the ass. There are few well behaved characters too, they would do as the author wants, you know, like the red riding hood will meet the wolf. Meeting the wolf becomes her characteristics. But then there are some who rebel. Those i call the "rouge characters".
    
    I quote Harold Pinter to describe them to you: “The author’s position is an odd one. In a sense he is not welcomed by the characters. The characters resist him, they are not easy to live with, they are impossible to define. You certainly can’t dictate to them… To a certain extent you play a never-ending game with them, cat and mouse, blind man’s buff, hide and seek. But finally you find that you have people of flesh and blood on your hands, people with will and an individual sensibility of their own, made out of component parts you are unable to change, manipulate or distort.”
    
    i guess i should indeed write a hub about these rascals.

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12. 57

    osa agbonlahorposted 11 years ago

    This one is difficult. I want to say the plot, but in my experience, this isn't always the case. The novel "Lisey's Story" by Stephen King has a great plot, but I've never been able to read it because the main character is awful and infuriating.
    
    In another Stephen King novel "Dolores Claiborne", the plot was just so-and-so, but the characters were amazing and so...alive (those that WERE alive, I mean) , that I couldn't put it down.

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