I’m going to sink my fangs in this and make an ass of myself…
The difference between plot Driven and Character driven.
The way I see it is simple.
The plot driven story is dictated by events rather than the character himself. It can be argued that the plot’s base is a character in itself.
“Sotek’s lost it, call Hircine and have him collected”………
Before you do that, consider a film.
The Towering Inferno
In this film we have a wide range of characters. We also have a burning tower block. The fire is out of everyone’s control and the hero’s can’t do anything except pray that they make the right choices.
This is something which I see as being plot driven. The viewer can see the hero’s fight desperately to survive and the danger rapidly escalate yet the whole plot is due to the building itself. It’s out of the hero’s hands. All his actions do is either,
1 Give him a few minutes longer
2 Costs people’s lives.
The plot will keep on pushing forwards despite what the hero’s do or don’t do.
Character driven story:
This is a different situation altogether, and can be far more rewarding for the reader due to certain elements which I will explain in a minute...
You may not have noticed it, but when I said ‘I will explain in a minute...’ I was actually giving you an example of a character driven plot. The plot will run at the rate which the character drives it. The best example I can give for everyone is Skyrim itself. The whole game is Character driven. Each section, quest, waits for the character to act or react, unlike the Towering inferno where it keeps burning.
Most of us writers in TT use a Character driven plot, it gives the writer more control and allows the characters to dictate what is happening. The pit falls to a plot driven story can be immense. The readers may struggle with events if they happen too quickly or the reader may simply ‘burn out’ and give up trying to follow the story. This can happen easily if too many things go on at once.
Imagine Whiterun in the early hours, the citizens are rising out of their beds then suddenly a hundred Stormcloaks are attacking it while a vampire lord attacks the War Maiden. The Companions can’t help because they are under attack by the Silverhand and the Dragonborn is fighting a dragon outside by the stables. Add three cultists who think the Dragonborn is a phony then be prepared for readers to rapidly give up because too bloody much is going on....
A character driven story tackles this by having the story react to the characters. NOT the characters reacting to everything else.
Now we face the fact that the characters want an easy life and they have no interest in fighting the Stormcloaks, killing a dragon, dealing with cultists and vampires...
One way is to use other characters; they can have small moments where they drive the story ‘Plot Driven’. This don’t become a problem because the characters used to do this don’t keep the focus, they just set the stage.
Jarl Balgruuf sending the Dragonborn to the Throat Of The World for instance. Our hero has little choice, he has to go. On his journey however, he takes back control and dictates the speed of events.
We could add a sense of urgency to hide our hands.
“The tower, it’s under attack” Cries a pitiful guard as he runs for cover.
The Dragonborn looks out of the window and groans despairingly.
“Again? What is it with that bloody tower?”
I’m going to sink my fangs in this and make an ass of myself…
The difference between plot Driven and Character driven.
The way I see it is simple.
The plot driven story is dictated by events rather than the character himself. It can be argued that the plot’s base is a character in itself.
“Sotek’s lost it, call Hircine and have him collected”………
Before you do that, consider a film.
The Towering Inferno
In this film we have a wide range of characters. We also have a burning tower block. The fire is out of everyone’s control and the hero’s can’t do anything except pray that they make the right choices.
This is something which I see as being plot driven. The viewer can see the hero’s fight desperately to survive and the danger rapidly escalate yet the whole plot is due to the building itself. It’s out of the hero’s hands. All his actions do is either,
1 Give him a few minutes longer
2 Costs people’s lives.
The plot will keep on pushing forwards despite what the hero’s do or don’t do.
Character driven story:
This is a different situation altogether, and can be far more rewarding for the reader due to certain elements which I will explain in a minute...
You may not have noticed it, but when I said ‘I will explain in a minute...’ I was actually giving you an example of a character driven plot. The plot will run at the rate which the character drives it. The best example I can give for everyone is Skyrim itself. The whole game is Character driven. Each section, quest, waits for the character to act or react, unlike the Towering inferno where it keeps burning.
Most of us writers in TT use a Character driven plot, it gives the writer more control and allows the characters to dictate what is happening. The pit falls to a plot driven story can be immense. The readers may struggle with events if they happen too quickly or the reader may simply ‘burn out’ and give up trying to follow the story. This can happen easily if too many things go on at once.
Imagine Whiterun in the early hours, the citizens are rising out of their beds then suddenly a hundred Stormcloaks are attacking it while a vampire lord attacks the War Maiden. The Companions can’t help because they are under attack by the Silverhand and the Dragonborn is fighting a dragon outside by the stables. Add three cultists who think the Dragonborn is a phony then be prepared for readers to rapidly give up because too bloody much is going on....
A character driven story tackles this by having the story react to the characters. NOT the characters reacting to everything else.
Now we face the fact that the characters want an easy life and they have no interest in fighting the Stormcloaks, killing a dragon, dealing with cultists and vampires...
One way is to use other characters; they can have small moments where they drive the story ‘Plot Driven’. This don’t become a problem because the characters used to do this don’t keep the focus, they just set the stage.
Jarl Balgruuf sending the Dragonborn to the Throat Of The World for instance. Our hero has little choice, he has to go. On his journey however, he takes back control and dictates the speed of events.
We could add a sense of urgency to hide our hands.
“The tower, it’s under attack” Cries a pitiful guard as he runs for cover.
The Dragonborn looks out of the window and groans despairingly.
“Again? What is it with that bloody tower?”
