Plot and Character: a story of codependency that works for me…
Henry
James, as quoted by Franny Billingsley in a post on Cynsations, “What is
character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the
illustration of character?”
You go Henry.
I
suppose I had vague notions of the connection between plot and character not
long after I began writing. John Gardner tried to tell me in his books on
writing and I’m sure others did too, including myself. Maybe I even understood, on an
intellectual level, that there needed to be a connection.
But it was Robert Olen
Butler that really got through to me with his talk about a character’s desire
driving plot. It made me think of character in a different way. Yes you had to
develop the layers of a character and relationships and all that. Writing is
never, ever, about just one thing. BUT this idea that plot and character were
entwined was crucial to my development
as a writer.
In Franny
Billingsley’s blog post she talks about a character’s controlling belief
directing plot. See the link to
read but the main idea is a character sees herself and/or world in such a way
that it defines the character’s attitude, self-image, choices. These, in turn, direct
the story.This is helpful,
I think, in finding one’s way through the vast possibilities of any story.
But here’s my
crucial point—one that was a big part of my pushing forward as a writer.
Character is not separate from plot. What a character does, he does because of
who he is—how he sees himself & his world and what he wants and what he
really wants-- and in a novel what he does causes things to happen to him and
all those around him. The interplay between these two—character and narrative
drive-- again and again in both small and large ways, builds a story.
Or so I think today
2 comments:
Whenever I tell a story, I always come up with the lesson I want to expound upon and then think up a conflict that will (for better or for worse) showcase that lesson. Then I imagine the main character. I think of what he/she look like, acts like, believes in, dreams of, how does he/she think, what are his/her morals and values? I, then, envision the character in the situation and tell the story on how I think he or she would respond. It usually starts and ends generally where I wanted it too, but the middle it just as much a surprise to me as to my audience (my children).
I think plot and character agreement are integral to any well written story and present in every good book I have ever read. I need to connect with the character, get to know him or her and then believe he or she would do what the story says he or she did. Even in a poorly articulated story, if you have this, it is a good read. IMHO
Interesting. I'm always amazed by the variation in the way authors work.
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