How a Character-Driven Story Differs from a Plot-Driven Story

Author Learning Center
Author Learning Center
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Published 2020-06-05
Fiction books can be generally sorted into two categories, as award-winning author and former underground storage tank operator Laurel Anne Hill explains. In a plot-driven story, everything deals with the plot. You can still have detailed and compelling characters, but the story revolves around the plot and story arc. If you were to take the characters out and replace them with others, you would still have the same story and story arc. In a character-driven story, sometimes referred to as literary fiction, there is much more depth to the characters. Instead of following characters on a mission or adventure, they are fighting something inside themselves and must deal with their internal struggles to move forward, or fail to change. Hill lists "Lolita" and "Madame Bovary" as two examples of character-driven stories.

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All Comments (11)
  • @jackhammer4499
    I mean, you can still have a character driven story about adventuring to fight a bad guy, but measuring it by "could you replace the characters and have the same story" is an interesting thought.
  • @danielveres4351
    I didn't know who this lady was, but I was searching for a good explonation and upon spotting her with that hat, I know I was at the right place. :D
  • @MrUtah1
    Compare Birdman to Batman. Both stories to do with vigilante superheroes and Michael Keaton. But one deals with his own ego, his consciousness and his human condition, while the other deals with saving Gotham from Joker or Penguin
  • @akale2620
    Excellent explanation. I got bored of reading long ago, and just now realized I don't like boring char driven crap. Gimme a plot driven.
  • @wormsnake1
    Why can’t you have great character and plot.x
  • @aubreyv1389
    I’ve been writing scenes for myself of a story I’ve had in my head for a while. And I’ve been fruitlessly struggling to create a plot. You can’t take a character driven story and stuff it inside a plot structure, you’ll just squish the emotional experience altogether.
  • @delshi13
    Anime is often character-driven. I love that.
  • @VinnyTheory
    Can someone name one good character driven story? Like iconic. As iconic as Star Wars or Harry Potter