B Plot

Character vs Plot-driven stories

All stories are driven by conflict. All great stories have compelling characters and an intriguing plot. You can have a fantastic plot, but you won’t have much of a readership if the character turns off the readers. Conversely, you can have a terrific main character, but if the MC has nothing interesting to do, the reader will put down your book.

Many genres lend themselves to character-driven stories. In a character-driven story, the character experiences internal and external conflict that forces them to change. They might regress and maladapt leading to a tragedy or they might overcome the conflict and lead to a happy ending. Romances tend to lean heavily on character development because the character needs to address a deep hurt or personal trauma to be in the right heart space and headspace to engage in a romantic relationship.

A character-driven story focuses on the emotional and psychological aspects of making a decision. These books don’t need to be heavy on internals, but they show more thought processes and emotional reluctance to try something new or work towards a goal.

An external event will provoke the need for change, and the rest of the book is spent with the character thinking and feeling their way through the change. Many character-driven books have characters that want to change the status quo even if they aren’t aware they want to change. In many romances, the main character is perfectly content with having a new sexual partner every night. There’s an event that provokes an internal change—perhaps their best friend got married or had their first child, perhaps the death of parent instigates some soul-searching, perhaps it’s an illness and the need to confront their mortality. Whatever the provocation, it creates a need for internal reflection. That’s not to say introspection is easy or comes naturally. A great many books have main characters that don’t want to engage in the kind of internal work that will stop them from making the same mistakes over and over. Their journey in improvements of self-awareness is the book.

Character-driven plots need the following items:

• An interesting and rich backstory. When the MC addresses one issue from their past, the story can’t end. They need to dig deeper to find the true root of the problem
• Be presented with obstacles and conflicts that provoke strong emotional responses
• Be active in addressing internal matters (with increasing self-awareness as the story progresses)

Have a past that addresses a Universal Truth to ensure the readers relate to the characters. A Universal Truth is something that all individuals across cultures and periods can identify as part of the human experience. These include: the fear of being left out, grief, falling short of a dream, cultural norms that you disagree with, and so on

Plot-driven stories

A plot-driven story focuses on external events. Plot-driven stories have faster pacing to keep the reader turning pages. Mysteries, thrillers and action-adventure tend to be plot-based. Consider the movie The Edge with Alex Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins. Both characters are compelling, and they are thrust into the harsh Alaskan wilderness. There’s plenty of internal and interpersonal conflict between the men as they brave harsh elements and dangerous wildlife, but it’s external events that drive the plot. The men fly out to hunt bears, but their plane crashes. They test their wits to survive the cold weather, injuries, and hunger while being tracked and stalked by a bear. External events force the characters to respond and adapt.  

In a plot-driven story, the characters didn’t want to change. Circumstances fall on their heads and force change. Consider the beginning of a James Bond film where Bond is perfectly content at a casino, on vacation, or with a woman he’s picked up. A villain commits a crime or is about to commit a crime, and Bond must stop the villain. It’s the same principle with action-hero/heroine movies in which the heroes/heroines are more than happy not to risk their lives protecting others but rise to the occasion every time there is danger.

Excellent plot-driven stories have the following elements:

• challenges that force the MC to increase their skill sets
• a worthy antagonist or villain that outsmarts and outmanoeuvres the MC
• clear external provocations that increase in intensity and complexity of the problems the MC must address

I want to thank @DonnaSagerCowa1 for her suggestion on the topic.

Readers can reach me on Twitter @reneegendron

Please note that Seven Points of Contact is a contemporary sports romance with plenty of humour. Release January 22, 2022. I’m looking for advance readers. Here’s an excerpt.

Characters are the foundation of every story. If your readers can’t connect with the characters, they’ll put down your story. Some characters change and grow over time, and other characters remain the same. Howard Tayler of Writing Excuses calls characters that don’t change over time iconic characters. Think of a James Bond or a Conan the Barbarian character where the world changes around them, but not the main character.

Before moving on, let’s establish conceptual clarity between a stereotype and an archetype. A stereotype relies heavily on using widely believed characteristics of a person from a recognisable group. In the case of French Canadians, there’s a stereotype that we are all lumberjacks, spend our time making maple syrup, are farmers or work in menial jobs. Think of a group that is “other” than you, and you’ll come up with an image of how they dress, talk, where they live, and their general vocations. Some of those portrays may be accurate to a degree, but most won’t be.

Stereotypes can be harmful to individuals in that group, and the reader can find them boring to read.

Character archetypes are different. Archetypes are characters that share common characteristics across the human experience. People across cultures and time recognise a leader, healer, or warrior (among other archetypes). Archetypes play a certain role in society.

Archetypes are different from stereotypes because all cultures have healers and warriors (and so on). However, how each culture expresses its “warrior-ness” differs. A Canadian soldier in 2021 has certain equipment, extensive training in specialised fields (paratrooper, infantry, tank commander, etc.), and a certain mentality that draws them to work and that particular position. An Aztec warrior has different equipment, different training, and but likely the same motivation to be a warrior.

I was asked by @LouSchlesinger if and how I use archetypes to build my characters systematically. The simple answer is that I don’t use archetypes. The more in-depth answer is that I build my characters from the trope and setting out. For Novella 2 of Heartened by Sport, I decided to write a second-chance romance in which the sport of choice (remember it’s part of the Heartened by Sport series) would be pickleball. I thought this sport was unique enough to create interesting circumstances for the characters to interact while engaging the reader. From there, I fleshed out the characters to understand their deep hurts (the reason why they aren’t in a romantic relationship {at all} and, more specifically, why they aren’t in a romantic relationship with their counterpart in the book).

I strive to make unique but believable characters. I often pick careers that aren’t top of mind in romances. Even when I write historical romances, I strive to give the women plausible means to sustain themselves that remain in keeping with the time and social constraints. If they are upper class, I aim to give them unique hobbies that make them stand out.

Why? The simple reason is that I work to create unique characters that readers will relate to and cheer for.

I don’t write to archetypes, but I play around with the dynamic between conflict, career/occupation, and setting. I explore ways that certain careers (combinations of his/hers) create problems for the individual and a romantic relationship. Perhaps someone is a salesperson who is always travelling. Long-distance relationships can be tough. Perhaps one is an early childhood educator who always catches colds and cases of flu from their young charges and hampers their social life. Perhaps the characters work opposing shifts, which adds complications if they are parents and trying to keep a strong marriage while coordinating childcare responsibilities and staying in touch with family and friends.

Each occupation has certain benefits and hindrances. Certain personalities (archetypes) are likely to gravitate to certain professions. There’s also a push-pull between the characters, their interests, their professional interests, and the relationship (in a romance) they seek to establish. Map out the conflicts between these layers and have fun with them. You’d be surprised how you can make each character, personal development arc, and romance unique.

Sure, certain themes are common in romances, but how each character and couple overcome them makes them memorable (or not) to readers.

When developing characters, I focus on unique events in their lives, how those events lead to decisions, and the consequences of those decisions on the character as they mature. What happens if a nurse (healer archetype) is also in desperate need of healing because of a chronic illness? What happens if the character who is a teacher (college instructor, corporate trainer, university professor, the most senior person on the team responsible for onboarding new staff, etc.) is the one who needs to learn the world isn’t the same and they need to adapt?

There are many dynamics to explore to add depth to your character. I choose to start with the trope, theme, and setting of the book. I drill down to career and hurts, and from there, I sketch their layers of conflicts, personal goals, deep hurts, character beats, and plot beats.

Archetypes are interesting to expand and explore. Delve deeper into a character’s background and occupation to highlight what makes them unique. They’ll be more interesting characters, and your readers will be more engaged.

How do you use character archetypes in your writing? Reach out on Twitter @reneegendron to continue the conversation.

Thank you, @LouSchlesinger, for the topic suggestion.

Whether you’re writing a protagonist, an anti-hero, an antagonist, or a villain, you’ll make them more rounded characters if you include flaws. If your readers can’t relate to or don’t like your characters, you risk alienating them. Let’s examine some ways to keep your audience with flawed characters.

Start by giving them deep hurts that created the flaws. Deep hurts are childhood traumas (abuse, neglect), life-changing events (car accidents, sports injury, workplace injury), being misled by someone (nasty older sibling that hid their university acceptance letter, step-father who was intentionally late to a pro-league try-out, a co-worker who doesn’t share all of the information about a project, so your character doesn’t fully complete the assignment), or trusting the wrong person (loving the wrong person, trusting a stranger who then wounds them, believing someone in authority who turns out to be manipulating them).

Most readers can identify with being lied to, missing an opportunity that would give their career a boost, or missing out on something because someone stopped. Let’s say your character is middle-aged and bitter because the three great opportunities for career advancement were sabotaged. The first by a stepmother who was angry they outshone the stepmother’s biological children. The second from a university professor who stole the character’s great idea and claimed all of the credit. The third from a boss who has consistently promoted other people because the character is ‘too valuable where they are to be promoted.’ These are all related events that inform the reader about how and why your character is so angry and takes the edge off for the reader. Such scenarios also create opportunities for character improvement because they are events that can be reworked, improved upon, and the character can heal from them.

Make the characters human. Some characters have personality disorders. Sometimes, the character chooses not to take medication to address their personality disorder. Sometimes, there is no treatment available. Either way, take the time to show the human side of your character. No one is a jerk 100% of the time. No one is anxious all the time. Use the opportunity to show slices of other behaviours, other facets of the characters life, show them trying to improve and failing, but trying again. Someone with severe social anxiety might spend all their time painting. They might produce beautiful works of art they don’t show the world, but the reader knows they exist.

Remember, a person (and a character) is more than their flaws. A person is more than a personality subset. They have talents, skills, experience, insight, and hobbies. Flesh out some of the other aspects of a person’s life to make the character better-rounded.

Give opportunities for your characters to shine—yes, even the antagonist and villains need moments to shine. Everyone is an expert in something. Sometimes the expertise impacts the plot (great at handling weapons, fantastic strategist, excellent at maths), and sometimes the expertise goes to characterisation (can cook a gourmet meal from anything, can knit a shawl in under a day, has a way with horses). Villains often have the best lines because it showcases their wit and intelligence. Expand on this to ensure every character has a moment to shine.

Create opportunities to show a character’s nuance. Most people have a professional side and a personal side. How you talk with your colleagues often isn’t the same as how you speak with long-time friends. The choice of topic, language, and level of detail is often different between groups of people (co-workers and friends). The same applies to your characters. Your villain might be extremely aggressive towards your protagonist but highly personable with their intimate partner or sibling. Your protagonist might be very reserved at work but incredibly open with their hobby group.

Deeply flawed characters generate opportunities to engage your reader. You can shed light on a different world, provoke reflection and emotional response from your audience. Make sure to make a character more than a flaw, and you’ll bring them to life.

Feel free to reach out on Twitter @reneegendron to continue the conversation. How do you make character flaws relatable?

Thank you, @minday76, for the topic suggestion.

James' and Mirabelle's story will be released in Fall 2021. You can read an excerpt here. If you'd like to receive an advanced reader copy, please join my newsletter with a note "ARC".