When I had first retired with the thought of getting all the stories I’d written over the years published, I had lots of questions. I mean, I knew the parts of sentences and what they did. I knew how to string them together to create coherent, perhaps even entertaining paragraphs.

But, still. Questions.

Because I didn’t want to appear ignorant of the whole writing process, I hesitated to ask those questions, preferring instead to attend seminars and workshops to enhance my story-telling ability. That worked for me, though it was time-consuming. From retirement in the beginning of October 2009 to the publication of some first original work in 2012, three years had passed, three years where I actually didn’t feel productive. I was whipping old stories into some semblance of “publishability.” It was five more years later (2017) that my coveted first novel, totally written post-retirement, was published.

Now, I’m not a novel-a-month writer. I’m too much of a nitpicker to do that. Kudos to those who can do that, but for me the write-edit-rewrite-beta reading-rewrite-final edit process can’t (and shouldn’t) be rushed. That’s me, and I’m the only one I hold to that standard.

Last year, at an in-person book event, I spoke with a young woman for quite some time, and she had all the questions and good ones at that.

How did you get started? (Using elementary school spelling words in complete sentences, which I arranged into a story.)

What’s your process? (Write. Edit. Edit some more. Rewrite. Edit some more. Beta readers. More editing. Off to the final editor. Edit. Format. Publish.)

How do you know when your story is finished? (When anything you add doesn’t advance the story.)

Which is more important, plot or character, and are your novels plot-driven or character-driven?

That last one was harder to answer, and I had to give it some thought.

Plot vs Character

This has long been a debate in literature. There is the school of a novel needs a strong plot to tell a story, and the characters are the background. Then, there’s the school of good, strong characters tell the story, and the plot is the background. Finally, there’s the “in-between” school, the one where plot and character have equal importance in the story. I’m more or less a graduate of that school.

The basic construction of a plot is the sequence of events that tell a story. MFA programs and writing seminars and workshops often speak of a story arc, consisting of a triggering event that causes some action to happen. The action increases or rises and includes obstacles and conflicts that must be overcome by the characters to reach the dénouement (sometimes called the climax), when the plot is resolved and the action falls off to the story’s end.

Every bit of rising action in a plot has to involve cause and effect, i.e., one event leads to another in a logical sequence. The plot also has to have a central conflict, e.g., going on a long trek to destroy a ring while wanting to keep it for yourself but knowing it must be destroyed. That central conflict must be resolved, and the plot contains obstacles along the way which tries to thwart that resolution.

And of course, all that rising action and central conflict don’t exist in a vacuum. That’s why you have characters: a protagonist (at least one), an antagonist (usually one main bad person), and secondary characters who help to advance the action.

Who Can Be Characters?

Any person, animal, being, creature, figure, or thing who is essential to the story is a character. They “tell” the story through their actions and dialogue. If you had no characters, your story would be one long mass of exposition and likely not entertaining at all.

Since I alluded to Lord of the Rings earlier (I recently binge-watched all six movies.), the Ring itself, a thing, is a character, one might say even one of the antagonists. It “speaks” to any person who bears it, and the actions it forces from the ring bearers are key to the central conflict of the overall story arc in the three novels.

But the key to a memorable character, whether protagonist or antagonist, is to create one that is realistic, interesting, and relatable. Think of your favorite characters in books you’ve read: You like—or hate—them; they’re like a neighbor or a family member; they’re fascinating or quirky; and, on occasion, you want to be them. Or sleep with them.

Sometimes characters can switch roles, flip from being the main character, and another character pops up to assume the main role for a while. Now, LOTR fans, don’t hate me. I always found Frodo Baggins too tentative, too whiny, and too easy to trust, e.g., Gollum. He doesn’t listen to warnings about the ring even after he experiences its deleterious effects. If you have a friend who constantly makes the wrong decisions in life, you’ll recognize this character.

My favorite character was Samwise Gamgee. He really had no responsibility to bring the ring to its destruction—that was Frodo’s gig—but he was right there at Frodo’s side, encouraging him, protecting him whether Frodo allowed it or not, not letting him give up, trying his best to make sure Frodo completed his mission without getting killed or becoming a slave to the ring. If you were the long-suffering friend of someone, you’ll relate to Sam more than Frodo.

Answering the Next Question

Now, as for this newbie writer’s other question—are my novels plot- or character driven—that is sometimes difficult to explain.

I write historical espionage fiction. Because history is involved, I usually have a ready-made plot available. For example, a botched law enforcement raid that became national news and led to an act of domestic terrorism; an attack on the U.S. by foreign terrorists that led to two wars and some dubious policy decisions.

I could have written a dry, nonfiction tome about these events, but because I have points I want to make in my stories, my plots involve realistic, interesting, and relatable characters who advance the story with their actions and dialogue.

I’d say my novels have a good balance between plot and character. At times the plot rises to be dominant, and the characters are somewhat subject to the plot’s whim. At other times, the characters are in the forefront, and the plot has to trail behind them. By the time they reach the denouement, though, the central conflict of the plot is resolved, and the action falls off to “The End.”

What I told my questioner was that you can’t have one without the other. Plot and character are inextricably entwined in any story. I tried once to write a short story (titled “Post-Coital”) where all the characters did was talk. No exposition. No triggering event. It was rejected so many times by so many journals, and I finally figured out it had no plot, just two people yammering aimlessly.

About four years ago I drafted a novel about The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. After putting it aside for a while, I realized I’d put the history—the plot—ahead of everything else, and it read like a monograph. I had to rewrite it to put my characters alongside the history and have them show and tell that history through their actions and dialogue.

Denouement

Now, all of this is my personal opinion, derived from numerous workshops I’ve attended,  feedback from editors and workshop leaders, and oh, forty-plus years of writing experience (fiction and nonfiction). You may have an entirely different opinion, and that’s okay. Because how to tell a story evolves along with people and societal norms.

Was my visitor happy with my answers to her questions?

Truthfully, I don’t know. When someone asks me questions like she did, I tend to respond pedagogically. She likely got more than she bargained for, but never pass up an opportunity to teach–or help a fellow writer.