Ask David Corbett discussion

As the title states, which came first the plot or the character, which did or does come first when you write? When I've written short stories in the past, for me, it seems to be a combination of both. I have created plot lines based around characters and I have created characters based on plot lines. It just depends on how my mind chooses to work at that time, however; I have learned that from time to time that not having a method to my madness proves to be frustrating. Do you have a particular method that you use?

Whenever I start with the story idea, if I don't stop and think deeply about the characters, imagine why it is they make the events of the story occur -- what it is they want, why, how they came to that time and place in their lives, why they're compelled to do what the story "demands" -- I end up with a lackluster piece. The characters are vague, half-realized.

But most stories start with a story idea. It's rare when you start with a character and just start noodling and stumble on a plot. Great when it happens, but often instead you're reverse engineering your characters from the story. That's been the case overwhelmingly for me, most of the writers I know, and many of my students.