Does Your Plot Suit Your Characters And Vice-Versa?

Creative Writing Tips –

When an idea comes to us for a short story, we either think of a story line 1st or a character first. Whichever we think of first, and later on build, we have to do sure the plot and the character suit each other.

Example one – We think of a story line first.

Your story is set in a rural area. A institution opens a manufactory and employs workers from that small town. The residents welcome this, as there aren’t many an jobs going around. The management takes advantage of that fact and exploit the workers.

Using a item in the system, mayhap listing them under some job titles in their books, they pay them less than they are entitled. Your main character sees this injustice and leads the workers to rebel against the management.

Now in a plot like this you wish need your main character to posses certain qualities. Like…

Leadership

To be able to lead the folk to rebel.

Convincing

The workers are from a rural area. Several strength be uneducated and not aware of their rights. The main character has to win over them that what the management is doing, is wrong.

Persuader

Living in a rural area, jobs are hard to find. Most of the workers wish view the institution as their saviour. Their thinking wish be that receiving little money is better than none at all. The main character has to persuade them that being in a rural area the institution of necessity them as more as the workers need the company.

Strong Personality & Confident

We need a strong character that wish see things through to the end. We don’t want causal agency giving up once things get tough. He wish likewise need to be confident that he is doing the right thing (not to do things worse for the workers) and believes in himself (knowing what he’s doing is right).

Strong folk skills

To be able to speak and relate to folk on all levels.

Negotiator

To hash out a resolution with management and workers.

Public speaker skills

To be able to address this mass group of workers, in a voice that is confident, persuading, authoritative etc.

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So these are the qualities we wish need our character to have.

Now let’s see if we can do him believable. Remember he lives in the same rural area, so what does him some from the rest of the workers who are willing to settle for less?

I could say he recently come to that rural area from the city. He used to activity as a union leader and wanted to get out of the rat race. But having fought for workers rights his entire career, he can’t stand now to see injustices and comes to the decision to fight for them and himself.

So this character would-be suit our plot because we need causal agency like him for our story.

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Example two – Thinking of a character 1st

We notice a man on the street. Thing just about him triggers our interest so we decide to write just about him in a short story. So at this point we wish build the character 1st and then activity a story about him.

Let’s go back to wherever we saw him…

He’s walking briskly on a busy street. He’s in a hurry. He’s dressed in a three-piece suit, which indicates he strength be a businessman. He’s got a stack of documents under his arm; a case in his left hand and his right hand is occupied by holding the phone to his ear, which he’s shouting into.

Let’s observe him closer…

He’s in his mid thirties. He looks authoritative. Mayhap he has his own business. Why is he shouting into the phone? Mayhap one of his employees ready-made a mistake, which has cost the character a lot of money.

What if this worker ready-made the mistake on purpose? What if he’s on the qt working for the opposition, planted to destroy the main character’s company? What if the owner of that opposing institution is the main character’s own brother? Etc…

So as we analyze this character and ask questions just about him, our plot begins to unfold.

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Plots and characters have to suit each other.

When we have finished plotting and are available to write the story, they shouldn’t be ill-fitting pieces of a puzzle – They should be a perfect match.

Does your plot suit your characters and vice-versa?

About The Author

Besides his passion for writing, Nick Vernon runs an online gift site wherever you wish find gift information, articles and readers’ funny stories. Visit http://www.we-recommend.com

This article was announce on August 24, 2004