plot – Page 2 – Confabulator Cafe

A Comfortable Blend (Except When It’s Not)

Ashley M. Hill - March 23, 2012

I think that when we first conceive a story we all probably start with one or the other: a plot or a character. It doesn’t really matter so much as blending the two by the time you hit your final draft. I usually have a character, and sometimes a vague concept. Almost never a detailed […]

Characters occupy plot

Angela Kordahl - March 22, 2012

Last fall, when thousands of protesters descended on town squares and public spaces, was it the zeitgeist? Were we all zombies, drawn into this massive, not-well-publicized-enough plot? Or did each character individually have her own motives for participating? Did the arc towards justice articulate each of us within the plot of the year, or did […]

Plot > Character (But both matter. A lot.)

Ted Boone - March 22, 2012

Plot is more important to me than character. Without a plot, there is no story. Without a story, what the heck are we doing? Character sketches are well and good, but I’m more interested in the voyage, not the people traveling with me. That said, terrible characters can ruin a good plot, while interesting characters […]

Character and Plot: A Healthy Codependence

Larry Jenkins - March 19, 2012

Hypothetical: Someone walks up to you on the street and says, “Character or plot driven?” Let’s go ahead and assume they’re not wearing their favorite shade of inmate orange. Oh, and they don’t have on one of those snazzy jackets with the sleeves that latch together at the back. Aside from slowly backing away while […]