Plot Writers v.s. Character Writers

I am a character writer. Not only is my favorite part of writing making and developing the characters, but most of my stories are driven by the characters, rather than plot. I find that I am more drawn to reading books that are this way as well. For example, the classic Anne of Green Gables is mainly focused on the characters and their development throughout the story. Think about Marilla. At the beginning, she does not like Anne, and even finds her extremely annoying. As the story goes on she begins to soften up to Anne, and starts to care for her as a mother would care for her daughter. While there is still a bit of plot, it mainly focuses on the characters and their growth throughout the story.

Rather, plot writers write stories that are more focused on plot. There are characters in plot driven books (obviously), but they are used to be a sort of “crutch” for the plot. They are used to drive the plot forward. Lord of the Rings could be an example of this. There are characters, but the focus of the story is the quest that they have to go on.

Character driven books focus more on the feelings and decisions of the characters. While there is still supposed to be somewhat of a plot, it is used mainly to help to develop the character. In these types of books, you will see more of a growth with the characters throughout the story. The character at the end of the book will most likely be very different from how they were at the beginning.

There’s no right or wrong way to write. While I’m a character writer, there are many plot writers in the world as well, and amazing ones, at that.

Thank you so much for reading! Have an amazing day :)

---

What sort of writer do you think you are? I would love to hear from you!