Writing Notes: Developing your Story
Below are questions to consider while writing, and especially during the editing process, to create a more cohesive, rounded, and satisfying story for your readers.
There are 2 main types of writing styles: plot-driven or character-driven. Most writers naturally lean towards one writing style.
But the best writers understand that they must balance their preferred storytelling to create a satisfying tale.
By recognizing your writing preference, you will be able to identify the areas you need to balance.
Plot-Driven Stories
Often exciting and fast-paced.
Compel the reader to turn the page to find out how the characters will escape, evade, prevail, or overcome.
Focus on a set of choices that a character must make.
Meticulously tie together plot points to create a cohesive story.
Focus on ideas instead of people and their motivations.
Force your characters to make quick decisions that move the plot forwards. As a result, character development is secondary to plot development.
Character-Driven Story
Focused on studying the characters that make up your story.
Can deal with inner transformation or the relationships between the characters.
Focuses on how the character arrives at a particular choice.
When you zoom into the internal conflicts, you tend to focus less on the external conflicts.
The plot in a character-driven story is usually simple and often hyper-focused on the internal or interpersonal struggle of the character(s).
The plot is used to develop the character.
Many readers love character-driven stories because the author tends to put a premium on developing realistic, flawed, and human characters.
Readers can see themselves or someone they love in these characters and, as a result, connect emotionally.
When Writing a Plot Driven Story, Answer These Questions About Each of Your Main Characters:
What is the character’s back story?
What is the character’s personality?
How was the character’s personality shaped by his/her backstory?
How does each scene develop the character?
What is driving the character’s reaction within the scene (based on his/her back story)?
How does your character change within the course of the story?
What is the character’s internal conflict?
What is the character most afraid of?
How would he/she define happiness?
When Writing a Character Driven Story, Answer These Questions About Your Plot:
What does your character want to happen in each scene?
Is there tension or conflict within each scene?
What action does the character take within each scene?
How does this action move the story forward?
How does each scene contribute to the overall story?
What is the worst thing that can happen to your character(s)?
How does your character prevent it from happening?
What happens if your character cannot prevent it from happening?
What key events change the main characters in your story?
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