Comments on: Fiction writers: Which comes first — characters or plot? http://www.garyspeer.com/fiction-writers-which-comes-first-characters-or-plot/ Tips for writers and musing about writing and life in general Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:43:31 +0000 hourly 1 By: Gary http://www.garyspeer.com/fiction-writers-which-comes-first-characters-or-plot/comment-page-1/#comment-568 Gary Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:28:35 +0000 http://www.garyspeer.com/?p=459#comment-568 Very well stated, Dark Icon. All good information about the fundamental groundwork. You got it right, though, with your comment about being limited to those two options. Even as I wrote that, I realized it's difficult if not impossible to capture how stories are created in any "1-2-3" formula. Thanks for your insights. Very well stated, Dark Icon. All good information about the fundamental groundwork.

You got it right, though, with your comment about being limited to those two options. Even as I wrote that, I realized it’s difficult if not impossible to capture how stories are created in any “1-2-3″ formula. Thanks for your insights.

]]> By: Dark Icon http://www.garyspeer.com/fiction-writers-which-comes-first-characters-or-plot/comment-page-1/#comment-567 Dark Icon Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:10:34 +0000 http://www.garyspeer.com/?p=459#comment-567 If I were limited to just those two options, I’d say characters. But in reality, it’s neither. Concept comes first. What is this story about… what is the theme or IDEA of the story? What is the ‘hook’? That idea could encompass elements of plot, setting, or characters, in any combination. Once I know that, then I typically flesh out the characters and, more often than that, THEY determine the sequence of events that becomes the plot. If I were limited to just those two options, I’d say characters. But in reality, it’s neither.

Concept comes first. What is this story about… what is the theme or IDEA of the story? What is the ‘hook’? That idea could encompass elements of plot, setting, or characters, in any combination. Once I know that, then I typically flesh out the characters and, more often than that, THEY determine the sequence of events that becomes the plot.

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