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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31507
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31507
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Plot is the servant of character. One of the most common mistakes of beginning writers seems to be to start by inventing a plot -- essentially an imaginary history -- and then peopling it with characters to make it go. But stories are about characters. More specifically, they are about character arc.

There are lots of good books you can read on this subject. My favorite is Robert McKee's _Story_. It is written for screenwriters, so be careful not to translate any screenwriting techniques to the page, but the central thesis is the nature of story itself, and that is what you should pay attention to.

Here is how I would distill it (and you will find expanded versions of this in many of my answers, since this fundamental story shape is the answer to a lot of writing questions). A story starts with a character who has a desire. The desire may be long standing or it may be brought about by events (sudden separation from home, etc.). There are also obstacles to the character achieving their desire. Each obstacle forces the character to dig deeper, to give more to achieve their desire or to question the desire itself. Finally they are brought to a point of decision where they must make a fundamental moral choice -- that is, a choice about values. They then make that choice, one way or the other. The story then concludes by proving, through action, that they have made that choice.

Plot is a contrivance to create desire and to throw obstacles in the way of its attainment. Readers will put up with a great deal of artificiality in the plot as long as those events are throwing up new obstacles, not removing them. Difficulties may arise by the most outrageous coincidence; they can only be overcome by virtue.

Each character in a story has their own arc, though the arcs of minor characters are not necessarily resolved. But their arcs are what give them life and substance in your story, what make them plausibly support or oppose your central characters.

So, start with your character: who are they, what do they want, and what obstacles (character, values, external forces) stand in the way of their getting what they want? The create a plot to force them to confront those obstacles, building towards the ultimate moral decision that every character must face.

Original score: 10