tropetips - Tumblr blog

[tropetips]

Mary Sues

Created on 10/03/21, 4:09 PM

I know many people who follow this blog may be confused by the title. Admittedly, this term hasn’t really left the internet, but you’ll know the type of character I’m talking about once I describe them. 

This character is nothing special. To themselves, they are average. They’re not pretty. They’re not smart. And they’re definitely not like other girls. 

However, unbeknownst to them, they are the prettiest and smartest character to ever walk the earth. Everyone either wants to be them or be with them, and those that do neither are evil villains who only want the worst for her. They’re everything anyone could want to be. 

This is the Mary Sue (Gary Stu or Marty Stu for guys), and she is “perfect”. 

Mary Sues are a bit hard to define, but they usually manifest themselves in the manner I described above. The story treats them as if they can do no wrong. If they have flaws, they’re excused or covered up or not even treated as flaws at all. Commonly, there’s multiple tests and lists that name multiple Mary Sue traits.

Heterochromia, unusual color hair, stunningly gorgeous, stupidly overpowered for the world they’re in, stereotypically tragic backstory…

They’ve almost become synonymous with the very first characters an author ever makes. 

Yet, a lot of beloved characters will have similar traits and avoid being called Mary Sues. Goku is overpowered and wins almost every fight, but he’s not a Mary Sue. Batman has a tragic backstory but he’s not a Mary Sue. James Bond gets with almost every love interest he wants but he’s not a Mary Sue. But Captain Marvel and Rey Skywalker are. So, what gives?

While I’ll admit that there’s a layer of misogyny within character creation, the majority of problems with Mary Sues isn’t a character issue, but a story issue. 

The poor writing of a story directs the emphasis away from the story itself, and onto a character. It builds the idea of a certain character so much that the entire story suffers from it. Take Bella Swan from Twilight, for instance. 

Bella is a nobody, or so she claims. Yet, people become obsessed with her. Her blood is too special, and vampires hunt her because of it. As a human, she’s naturally immune to people reading her mind when no other human can, and this is exacerbated when she becomes a vampire. In fact, she’s so cool that she’s naturally talented at being a vampire. 

Yet, Twilight presents interesting ideas about vampires. Vegetarian vampires who strive not to hurt humans, fighting against vampires who happily feed. Vampires who have different, unique powers accompanying the standard ones. A found-family of vampires from different eras and different tragic pasts who live together and support each other. The questioning, ultimately, if ending one life is worth it to pursue another. 

Many of these ideas are genuinely interesting to explore, but Twilight happily gives them up to glorify Bella. We don’t need to know about the vampire who went to the mental hospital with psychic visions as a human, or the vampire who travelled a hundred miles to save a human. We need to know about the girl whose blood is irresistible and starts a toxic relationship with a man a hundred years older than her. 

So, are Mary Sues bad? Yes, actually. They’re a sign of poor writing, but they’re not a sign of poor ideas. If you get criticized for having a Mary Sue, think about new ways to approach the story. Maybe there’s some ideas in there that you haven’t explored yet, and try not to keep that one character as “perfect” as you’re making them out to be. And as always, stay writing!

[tropetips]

Love Triangles

Created on 10/03/21, 4:05 PM

Ah, love. The highlight of many people’s existence and the bane of many authors’. Romance is a typical plot and/or subplot for many stories. Outside of its own genre, it’s well-known that young adult novels (also called YA novels) have it in spades. And the most well-known situation out of those novels is a little trope called… the love triangle. 

How often have you glanced at the description of a story only to find that someone is stuck between two choices? Archie comics has Archie choose between Betty and Veronica. Twilight has Bella choose Edward and Jacob. The Hunger Games Katniss has Peeta and Gale. Everywhere it seems there’s always someone stuck choosing between two people. This is known as the classic love triangle, and many people have started to revile it. 

Does that mean love triangles are wholly bad? Of course not! Like every trope, it’s good but only in moderation. However, many authors make mistakes when executing their love triangles.

First off, many authors make the endgame couple obvious. When the main character spends all their time thinking about or with one side of the love triangle, it’s obvious who the main character will end up with. Doing this leaves many readers dreading the love triangle. Why even include it if the answer is obvious? 

Second off, many authors include them just for the sake of including them. Due to their relevance, many authors are starting to feel they need them for one reason or another. Maybe they think their book won’t get popular without it, or maybe their publishing company is forcing them to include it. Either way, having them just to have them ensures they don’t have the same amount of depth as a natural one will. 

Third off, many authors use it for cheap and easy conflict. Instead of developing natural conflicts that relate to the plot, many authors will just set up a love triangle and leave the larger plot running in the background. One side of the love triangle will turn evil, and another side will start yelling at each other, and of course fights happen over and over and over again. This all happens while the actual plot runs further and further away from the reader. 

So, what makes a good love triangle?

Keep it hidden. Make good arguments for why either couple could be the victorious couple, and include both in the story. If you want to foreshadow which two will end up together, you can always do it through extra means. Maybe their ice creams match the other’s colors, or maybe their pets get along better. 

Keep it natural. Both sides to the love triangle need chemistry. If one side doesn’t have chemistry, then why does the topic of them getting together even exist? Any relationship- platonic, familial, romantic- needs chemistry to work. Show the dynamics of each side. Show how maybe the main character banters well with one side, but softens up with the other side. Including the chemistry will help make the love triangle much more natural. 

Keep it healthy. Don’t make the love triangle incredibly toxic just for “conflict” or because it’s “hot”. Normally, people in toxic situations don’t want to be in them, and that just makes the entire love triangle null and void. Keeping the love triangle healthy and dedicating only as much time as you need to it can enhance the plot, but making it toxic and overwhelming just drags the entire story down. 

Most importantly, don’t include a love triangle just to have one. If it doesn’t help your plot and just creates clutter, then why include it? Many stories work well without one! But, if you’re insistent on keeping it, then a good way to do so would be to incorporate the love triangle into your theme. Now you may be thinking “what?”, but it’s a great way of keeping the love triangle relevant to your story. A great example of this is the Hunger Games series. Spoilers ahead. 

As stated earlier, Katniss can choose between either Peeta or Gale. Peeta detests the Hunger Games and revolution, and just wants a peaceful life. Gale wants to bring a violent end to the leaders who rule the games and allow them to continue. In this, they symbolize Katniss’ paths. She can live a peaceful and hopeful life, or she can follow destruction and let it destroy her in turn. This want for a peaceful life leads her to choose Peeta- the baker, the one who creates and spreads life through food. 

So when writing a love triangle, try and find ways to naturally incorporate it into the story. And as always, stay writing! 

[tropetips]

Villains

Created on 09/26/21, 3:11 PM

Ah, villains. The characters we often love to hate and hate that we love. But what defines a villain, and how can we use them in our own writing?

A villain is a moral-deficient character whose motives affect the plot. Whether it’s sticking kittens high in trees or destroying the universe, the villains are the ones who want to hurt and destroy. They can be either protagonists or antagonists, but either way they are usually planning some nefarious plot. However, the motivations behind these plots vary wildly from villain to villain. While others believe they are morally correct with their actions, others simply do it because they want to. Let’s look at some villains to see how their motivations differ. 

Spoilers ahead for Adventure Time and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. 

The Ice King from Adventure Time is an unusual character. In the beginning of the series, he appears solely as a villain who regularly kidnaps princesses. However, later episodes reveal that isn’t the whole truth. His real name is Simon Petrikov, and his whole personality was lost over time due to the influence of a crown he found on an archeology expedition. Before losing himself completely, he cared for a young girl named Marceline and sought to protect her, but ultimately had to use the crown to protect her, which cost him his mind. In fact, as the Ice King, the only reason he kidnaps princesses is because he’s searching for his “princess”, a woman named Betty who was his former wife. This complexity to his characters causes people to debate whether the Ice King actually is a villain, or just a tragic figure. His presence on screen is elevated due to this knowledge, and he’s become a fan favorite of the fanbase.

However, on the other hand, we have Dio from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. While he also has a tragic backstory of an abusive dad and dead mom, Dio ultimately becomes pure evil. In one part of the entire story, he poisons his biological father, throws his adoptive brother’s dog in a furnace, poisons his adoptive father, turns himself into a vampire, turns other people into zombie slaves to serve him, and kills numerous people, including the main character. Oh, and should I mention he comes back later after being defeated? Dio is pure evil incarnate, and a wonderfully fun villain to watch. 

So, which is better? A complex villain or a straight evil one? Well, neither is better than the other. It ultimately boils down to what serves the story’s purpose better. Let’s say there’s a villain trying to take over the world. A complex villain fits better in a story that analyzes the idea of “the ends justify the means”. It’d allow the story to elaborate on a character that gets pushed to that brink, and can showcase the theme and lesson from the story well. While a villain who wants to take over the world for fun can emphasize a different kind of lesson about lengths people go to to relieve boredom, or just allow for a fun character for the audience to laugh at. 

So while writing villains, really think about what kind of villain would serve the story better. Would the story’s theme resonate with the audience through a complex villain? Or would a simple villain better fit the world they’re in? And as always, stay writing!

[tropetips]

Antagonists

Created on 09/26/21, 3:06 PM

Last week, I talked about the viewpoint characters of a story. Whether heroic or villainous, those are the protagonists. However, what about those who stand in the way of the protagonist? What about those who are a thorn in the side of the main character? 

Those are the antagonists, and they live to create conflict in the story.

By definition, the antagonist is whomever in the story fights against the main characters. If the protagonist is a hero, you’ll often see the main antagonist as a villain. If the protagonist is a villain, you’ll usually see the main antagonist as a hero. Usually however, more than one antagonist exists in a story, and can be divided into multiple subtypes. 

The first type of antagonist is the main antagonist, usually called a “big bad” when a villain. These are the ultimate antagonists: the ones built up over time to oppose the protagonist. In the Hunger Games, this was President Coriolanus Snow. Ever since the first book, he became the figurehead for the corrupt society of Panem, a symbol of the elite that creates and runs the titular hunger games. 

The second type of antagonist is a personal antagonist. While they may not matter in the long run, the personal antagonist stands against the protagonist on a much more personal level than other antagonists will. While all kinds of antagonists can be considered personal antagonists at some point or another, often in a larger plot the protagonist won’t have personal stakes in the beginning, so introducing a personal layer to the conflict helps drive the story. A great example of a personal antagonist is in the first Percy Jackson book, The Lightning Thief. While the main plot of the book is returning Zeus’ lightning bolt to him, Percy has a much more personal conflict with the god Hades, who stole his mom. This action, however, has little effect on the series later down the line. This makes Hades in the first book a great personal antagonist.

The third type of antagonist is the same-side antagonist. These people will be on the protagonist’s side, but are often rivals or impeding in some way. These are the people that are the know-it-all kids in school or that one coworker next door who just has to brag about all their awards and trophies. 

Often, stories won’t have just one type of antagonist. They’ll have multiple types all going against the protagonist. For a good example of multiple antagonists, let’s look at Batman: Arkham Asylum.

In Arkham Asylum, Batman fights multiple enemies while trying to take down the Joker. He fights Victor Zsasz, Bane, and Poison Ivy in battles throughout the asylum, as well as numerous unnamed henchmen between the large fights. It ultimately culminates in a large battle between Batman and the Joker, which Batman wins. All of these villains count as antagonists, as they impede Batman’s progress throughout the plot. The Joker is the main antagonist, or the big bad. The game also has sidequests with the Riddler, who is a personal antagonist directly targeting Batman throughout the story due to the detective’s intellect. While there are no same-side antagonists in Asylum, later games would use Catwoman as someone who works both with and against Batman. 

So when developing antagonists, remember that you aren’t limited to just one main villain, and can utilize as many complex and conflict-driven antagonists you’d like. And as always, stay writing!

[tropetips]

Heroes

Created on 09/18/21, 3:49 PM

Earlier this week, when I talked about protagonists, a very specific person probably came to mind when you first started reading about them. A dashing young man or woman, risking their life to save people from terrors loose upon the world. They’d fight valiantly, nearly dying or perhaps even sacrificing themselves to stop the danger. They would be courageous, intelligent, and heroic- only for that image to get dissolved when I explained that tween criminal masterminds are indeed also protagonists. 

The type of person I just described though, are heroes. They’re often the protagonists, and always the good guys. They’ll climb a tree to save your cat or jump into the void to save the world, and that’s not to mention the varying shades of heroism in-between. 

But what drives these heroes? More often than not, they’re doing the right thing because they want to do the right thing. A good example of this is Percy Jackson. In the very first book, his mother gets captured and taken to Hades. This motivation to save someone- even though it puts his life in danger multiple times throughout the book- qualifies him as a hero. 

However, there are also heroes that do the right things but for other reasons. These are known as anti-heroes, or heroes who don’t act heroic. They’ll do the right thing, but for all the wrong reasons. 

The Guardians of the Galaxy are a really good example of anti-heroes. Spoilers ahead for the first movie. 

In the beginning, the Guardians of the Galaxy are a group of criminals that come together to escape prison. Star-Lord, or Peter Quill, is a professional thief and stole a precious artifact known as “the Orb”. Gamora was raised and worked under Thanos, murdering innocents in pursuit of his goal. Drax the Destroyer went on a rampage across the galaxy in search of the man who murdered his wife and daughter. Rocket Raccoon and Groot worked together to capture bounties, while Groot mostly followed Rocket’s orders. These people were such criminals they ended up partnering together in jail to escape. However, they ended up becoming a found family and saving the universe together- even if it was because they didn’t want to die alongside the rest of the universe. 

Even though they weren’t the most heroic people, they ended up saving the entire universe from destruction, and had all their criminal records pardoned. The Guardians of the Galaxy ended up as heroes, even if they weren’t the most heroic people. While classic heroes are always fun to watch, it can be rewarding for audiences to see heroes develop from non-heroic people. It’s great character development and inspiring for audiences to see change in people. So never be afraid to mess with your heroes and make them a little unheroic, and as always, stay writing!

[tropetips]

Protagonists

Created on 09/18/21, 3:39 PM

Every story in the world has a protagonist. Often one, sometimes two or more, but never, ever zero. There will be someone who breaks the mold, someone whose life is turned upside down, someone who adventures to find the object/save the captive/free their hometown/do something. And those people are the protagonists of their stories. 

From a more technical definition, the protagonist is typically the viewpoint character of the story. More commonly, they are known as the main character. These are the characters the readers are supposed to sympathize with the most, and the ones whose journey we follow. 

It’s honestly much harder to think of a story that doesn’t have a protagonist than one that does. By the virtue of what it is, it’s an omnipresent feature of stories. In Ancient Greece, Odysseus was the protagonist of the Odyssey. In the Elizabethan era, Hamlet was the protagonist of the titular story. In modern times, Harry Potter was the protagonist of his story. I myself can’t think of any story that doesn’t have at least one protagonist. I can think of a few stories that switch viewpoints, but not one that negates them completely. 

However, there remains a question: why didn’t I call the protagonist a hero? Isn’t that what they’re supposed to be?

Nope! Protagonists and heroes are not synonymous!

My personal favorite example of this is Artemis Fowl from his titular series. While the Disney movie changes the majority of the plot, the first book of the series has a spectacular villain protagonist. 

Spoilers for Artemis Fowl, the first book of the literary series. 

From the very beginning, it’s obvious Artemis- a 12 year old genius criminal mastermind- is not a good person. He lists the weapons his bodyguard has on him before stating that the bodyguard doesn’t need any to kill the man he’s talking to, then has said bodyguard force that man to lead them to a literal fairy. Then, he poisons that fairy by giving her Irish whisky laced with holy water, and offers her the cruel choice of betraying her people and giving Artemis access to a book that no human should ever see in return for saving her life or magic, or dying a horrible death by poison. She chooses the former, and allows Artemis to set off the chain of events in the book, which includes kidnapping another fairy and holding her hostage. 

This is one of the main characters of the entire series, and the one we’re supposed to root for. This is our protagonist, and he is by no means a hero.

The fact that protagonists aren’t limited to being heroes or good guys gives a lot of power and nuance to stories. They allow people to explore complex characters and understand why they think that way- or how they got to be that way in the first place. When working on protagonists, don’t feel limited to create a goody two-shoes that could coat the world in sugar with their sweetness. If you like villains, indulge in that love and create bad guys you’d like to root for. And as always, stay writing!

[tropetips]

Purple Prose

Created on 09/12/21, 4:28 PM

While the sparsity of simply saying what occurs in a scene is dreadful and mundane to read, overdoing it is just as bad, if not worse. In the writing community, this is known as purple prose. Let’s revisit my sample of writing from the last blog.

“The snowflakes slipped silently to the ground. My breath came out in puffs as I shoved my hands deeper into my pockets. The squeaks of my boots broke the silence as I started my march through the field.” 

This is an example of good prose. It’s not dry and barren like the reader is being told what is happening, but it’s not overly florid and intrusive. 

“The solemn snowdrops asundered one by one to the barren, blanketed, and blank ground. My lungs burst out hot breaths that froze and formed visible clouds of carbon dioxide as I buried my hands underneath the dirt that was the fabric of my coat pockets. The echoing endless squeaks of my grade seven coal black winter boots resonated through what was formerly silence as I pushed my foot into the ground and stood on it, then pushed my other foot into the ground and stood on it, and continued this motion to create a walk cycle through an open field towards my destination.”

While the example is a bit silly, the overly descriptive terms used in it are common in purple prose. Going into too much detail, using fanciful terms that confuse the reader more than describe, or even misusing large words that are included just to sound neat are all considered purple prose. This hurts the story, as the reader will spend more time focusing on figuring out what’s actually happening in the description than actively reading and enjoying the story. For an example that actually appears in stories, let’s consider the description of eyes. 

Eyes are somehow the most often victims of purple prose. Eyes are never just blue, they are sapphire windows to the soul or cerulean safe-havens. They aren’t just green, they’re viridian orbs or emerald oculars. While there’s nothing wrong with describing eyes in this manner- in fact getting really specific can often help readers understand better- combining unusual words with flowery descriptions leaves the reader confused by what the author meant. And if the reader is confused when reading about eyes, then there’s no telling how confused they are when reading the actual plot. 

When writing descriptions, there’s many things to consider. You have to help the reader visualize the scene in their heads, but you also can’t go overboard with the wording and confuse the reader. The key is to find a middleground of description, so that the audience is engaged but not confused, and understanding what is happening in the story. And as always, stay writing!

[tropetips]

Show vs. Tell

Created on 09/12/21, 4:24 PM

As writers, the most common advice given is to “show, not tell”. At some point this gets badgered into the brain so much that many writers can recall that advice without truly understanding it’s meaning. So, what does it mean? And why do so many writers fail at it when starting their careers?

To “show, not tell” is a simplified way of saying to “describe what’s happening, don’t just state it”. While this seems like an easy task, most young writers aren’t truly shown a difference, and to an untrained eye, they may appear the same. 

For example, if a writer were to describe a winter day, they might say:

 “The snowflakes slipped silently to the ground. My breath came out in puffs as I shoved my hands deeper into my pockets. The squeaks of my boots broke the silence as I started my march through the field.” 

With this example, the writer describes what’s happening to the reader. We don’t just learn that it’s winter; we get to see the snowflakes in the air and hear the snow squeaking underfoot. We aren’t told that it’s cold, but we know it is because the narrator attempts to warm their hands in their pockets and their breath is visible. We also know that there aren’t many trees nearby as the narrator mentions a field, so there’s just blankets of snow within sight. 

Now, let’s take the same example, but have it be told to us:

“The snow fell to the ground. It was winter and I was cold. I started walking through the snow.”

With that description, we learn nothing. We know it’s snowing and the narrator is cold as they walk through it, but there is no character to the actions. We don’t know that the narrator is in a field, and we don’t know it’s cold enough to see breath. We know it’s cold, certainly, but that can be anywhere from sweater weather to arctic temperatures. 

So, as we learned, it’s better to describe what’s happening to the readers- give them something to visualize- than just straight up stating what’s happening. But what about when we go too far with descriptions? That shall be covered in the next blog. So, keep giving your readers images to imagine, and as always, stay writing!

[tropetips]

Clichés

Created on 09/05/21, 5:28 PM

In my last blog, I detailed tropes and how prevalent they are in stories. I also clarified that tropes are not bad, and are actually useful tools that connect the audience to stories through the familiarity they bring.

However, I left out a subset of tropes. Ones that are stereotypical and trite, having been repeated for years without fresh ideas on the table. Ones that, personally, I love to criticize and figure out how they work. These are clichés, and they’re the tropes that have been loved to the point of exhaustion in society.

Clichés, simply put, are overused tropes. They’re common to the point of easy recognizability, and often see the same usage again and again. Like tropes, they can be phrases, character types, plot setups, or more. It’s like squares and rectangles. All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. All clichés are tropes, but not all tropes are clichés.

Perhaps the most well-known cliché right now is that of the chosen one. How many times have seen the chosen one appear as the main hero, often with a prophecy detailing the final fight. Harry Potter from his series was one. Percy Jackson from his own series was one. Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender was one. Many, many more exist. While these stories aren’t bad- quite the opposite, in the minds of many- this standard idea of copying and pasting the idea of the chosen one over and over causes it to lose any meaning it has. It becomes boring, and audiences detest mundanity.

Clichés, however, can be used without being overdone. The most common way is through subverting the expectations of the trope.

Spoilers ahead for The Lego Movie.

In the beginning of the movie, we see the mentor Vitruvius explain a prophecy that someone called “the Special” will find “the Piece of Resistance”. The main character, Emmet, is a common construction worker who ends up being the chosen one of the prophecy when he discovers “the Piece of Resistance”, which the audience knows is just a Krazy Glue cap. However, later on in the film it’s revealed there was no prophecy. Vitruvius made it up to get at the antagonist, Lord Business. Emmet isn’t actually “the Special”. No one is. Yet, because of this, Emmet becomes motivated and ends up becoming “the Special” out of his own volition. He saves the entirety of his world through his own motivation and determination. He also isn’t the only one special; everybody ends up motivated to fight against Lord Business.

This is a great subversion of the chosen one cliché. While Emmet is initially set up to be the stereotype with the prophecy and all, he isn’t it. He never was the chosen one. The audience’s expectations are subverted, and it creates tension within the story. What will Emmet do now? Who will actually defeat Lord Business, if anyone can? The questions it spawns are answered in the story: he becomes “the Special” of his own volition and saves everyone, and he even ends up talking Lord Business down with his speech.

While clichés are overused, subverting them and messing around with audience expectations often breathes new life into them. Personally, figuring out ways of doing this is my favorite thing to work on with my stories. I’ll mess around with love triangles and prevent the problem of a main character whining between two hot guys. I’ll make the damsel in distress able to escape on her own, or even a secret agent who’s used to lure in the heroes. In my advice, always play around with clichés, because something they’ll end up more entertaining than the standard portrayal of them. As always, stay writing!

[tropetips]

Tropes

Created on 09/05/21, 5:22 PM

I’ll be honest: one of my favorite writing topics to talk about is the subject of tropes. I’ve always had fun playing around with them and turning them into something new. However, not many people realize they exist, or that writing uses them in the first place. So, what are they?

Tropes are standard story conventions audiences know that are used to further a story. They can be anything: a word or a phrase, a character type, or even a simple plot. It’s a very broad definition, but it covers many standard patterns you see in movies and shows nowadays.

One common example of a trope are trios. How often have you seen a movie or tv show that features a trio of characters that’s two guys and a girl? I can list many examples off the top of my head. 

There’s Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Harry Potter. There’s Percy, Grover, and Annabeth from Percy Jackson. For cartoons, there’s Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella from Phineas and Ferb, and Aang, Katara, and Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

These are just popular examples! There’s many more out there that exist, and definitely some out there that nobody is aware of. The fact that the trio is so wide spread through multiple forms of media makes it a trope.

Another common example are anthropomorphic personifications. How many times have you encountered a character or two that’s the very embodiment of something? Whether an element, a gemstone, or abstract ideas like justice and love? They’re everywhere! Harry Potter has dementors, who represent depression. Any story featuring the apocalypse like Good Omens often has the four horsemen, who are representations of war, famine, pestilence, and death. Even the real world uses these characters. The United States of America is represented in Uncle Sam, and Lady Liberty is the personification of liberty.

Tropes are tools that the audience recognizes to help the plot along. While very common, it doesn’t mean they’re boring or overdone, and help audiences connect to the story better through their familiarity. I use the ones I detailed in this very blog in some of my own stories. I have two guys and a girl trying to save their world, and in another story I have Death walking among humans. So if you have them in your own stories, don’t be afraid. Use them to connect the audience with your story, and as always, stay writing!

[tropetips]

Character-Driven Stories

Created on 08/29/21, 7:54 PM

Earlier, I discussed plot-driven stories, but I didn’t touch on character-driven at all. 

So, what exactly are they?

Character-driven stories are stories whose focus is more on the characters than the plot. I touched on the fact last time that both plot-driven and character-driven stories can and often have engaging and multifaceted characters, but the focus on character-driven stories showcases these characters much more. 

Since the emphasis is placed on the why and how of a character’s actions, it allows for a deeper look into the characters. Instead of just seeing a character running a marathon, we’ll know what led them to that moment. Are they competing for their crush’s affection? Are they proving themselves to the coach who wouldn’t teach them because he thought they were too weak? Are they doing it to honor a lost loved one who never completed it, despite always wanting to? With character-driven stories, the audience sees into these motivations and truly understands how the character reaches the choices. 

A great example of a character-driven story would be the movie Logan. 

Spoilers ahead.

Logan differs from the other X-Men movies due to its subject matter. While the other movies focused heavily on superheroes fighting and saving the world- the standard conventions of the genre- Logan analyzes Wolverine as a character and his interactions with Professor X and Laura, the young girl he’s protecting. Although Logan technically gets dragged into the plot due to his reluctance in involving himself with superheroes again, he willingly fights for Laura and Professor X to save them from the people hunting them down. We see Logan struggle with getting Professor X to take his medicine like a child with his elderly father, and we see Logan struggle with taking care of this new, 8-year-old child. We see his rage, we see his frustration, and we see his love and adoration for those he’s close to. He heavily influences the plot with his decisions and as the audience we fully understand why he does some of the things he does. 

It’s the perfect example of a character-driven story. 

When my friend and I discussed the game we played together earlier this week, we debated whether it was plot-driven or character-driven, and which one was better. This isn’t an uncommon argument- a lot of people have argued between the two and which one is superior. 

So, between the two, which is better?

A lot of people say that character-driven is better since it naturally generates more audience engagement. With the focus on the character’s motivations, the audience gains a deeper understanding of the character, which allows for more connection and empathy between the audience and the character. 

However, in my own opinion, a good story will be both plot-driven and character-driven. 

To focus solely on the plot leaves characters as barren slates with little audience connection. To focus solely on the characters leaves the plot mundane as characters wax on about which decision to choose, but never seeing the ramifications of it. 

A good story will have a balance between the two. Characters will act on their volition and also react to choices others make. Not only will the characters have depth and motivation, but the plot will also be enticing enough to keep the audience engaged to experience it with the characters. They’re two sides of the same coin or an entire Oreo cookie with cream and cookie. You can have the cream, and you can have the cookie, but it works best when both are combined. 

So when you create your own stories, don’t just throw one aspect of it to the wayside. I advise you to make sure to keep a balance between what you’re working on, and stay writing!

[tropetips]

Plot-Driven Stories

Created on 08/29/21, 7:47 PM

The other day, a friend and I sat down for lunch and our conversation quickly delved into a game we played together and enjoyed. However, we had two separate opinions: I believed the game should’ve explored the characters’ depth more, while my friend thought it was fine as is. The conversation then spiraled downward into musing about whether this story was plot-driven or character-driven.

So, the question is: what is a plot-driven story?

A plot-driven story focuses more on events than the characters. While it can and often has many lovable and real characters, the focus falls more on the actions of the characters and not why or how they chose that action. That’s all there is to it!

Below, I’ll discuss some examples of plot-driven stories and talk about how they show they’re plot-driven.

Spoilers ahead.

A widely known example of this is Harry Potter. Harry Potter has many complex characters that show depth throughout the story. They range from Dumbledore and his evil deeds in the pursuit of good to the strain on Draco Malfoy to follow his family’s path or his true heart and morals. However, despite all these great characters, the focus isn’t on them or how they made the choices they did. The focus is on the effects of these choices. We see how Dumbledore left Harry with the Dursleys as a child and let him grow up for 10 years in a massively abusive household. Later, Dumbledore would admit how he knew it’d be awful for him in Order of the Phoenix. We see glimpses of Malfoy struggling with his morals and how he’s been raised, ultimately culminating at the moment when he throws Harry his wand to defeat Voldemort.

One could argue, however, that these aren’t the main characters so we won’t have their thought processes shown. However, I can illustrate this difference with another piece of media.

Another widely known example is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also called the MCU. With the branching into TV shows, the audience was allowed to see more into the mind of former side character Bucky Barnes.

In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Bucky was one of the main protagonists. We saw former glimpses into his life as the Winter Soldier and how he coped with it in the current time through therapy and apologizing to people he hurt. However, that was never the main focus. The focus was on the aspects of the plot: them fighting Karli Morgenthau and the Flag Smashers to keep people alive as well as fighting Jon Walker for the true mantle of Captain America. These events drove the story forward, and the story wouldn’t exist without them. While the characters had agency in the story, their internal conflicts were not the main focus.

So, knowing the definition of plot-driven, what’s the difference between plot-driven and character-driven stories? That’s something to be touched on in the next post. In the meantime, I advise making sure your plot is engaging to your audience, and stay writing!

[tropetips]

Hello!

Created on 08/29/21, 7:20 PM

Hello internet and SPCH 145! This little corner is wholly dedicated to writing advice that I have learned and gained in my endeavors to become an established author. Since I have invested seven years of my life moving towards this goal, I figured I would share what I’ve learned with others. Although the advice may vary from creating plots and characters to proper word usage and show versus tell, everything stems back to learning about writing mechanics and how to utilize them in your own original works. In my following posts I’ll discuss plot-driven stories versus character-driven stories, and which is better!