Character Driven vs. Plot Driven Novels #Characters #Plotting

 

THE GREAT DEBATE

Wondering whether your novel should be character driven or plot driven? Read on. 

Many in the wonderful world of writing cling to the theory that a novel must either be character driven or plot driven. It doesn't work for me. An idea may come from a character demanding to be heard, a significant event, or an intriguing setting, but:

  1. No matter how mysterious, exciting, or inspirational a story line, it needs strong and weak, noble and ignoble, believable characters to bring events to life. Give me characters who make me want to cheer or rage, laugh and cry. Characters with whom I can relate and care about what happens to them.

2. Conversely, the finest cast of characters cannot overcome a dull, uninteresting, or weak plot. A compelling story, filled with action, pathos, humor, etc. keeps me turning pages (the final test of a good book), impatient to see what obstacles, joys, or sorrows the characters will encounter next.

Example

My recently published Legacy of Silver, Cherished Romance Historical Series #4, is set against a cataclysmic event: the Civil War. Stories handed down from my ancestors who fought in "The War Between the States" provide authenticity. Brother against brother. Soldiers, who after a day of fighting, smoke and play cards with men and boys they will fight again the next day. Families torn apart because of differing loyalties.

Silver Birches is a fictional Virginia plantation. High-spirited Silver Trevelyn eagerly looks forward to her birthday ball. She scratches April 12, 1861 in the rich Virginia soil and laughingly remarks, "Virginia will long remember my twenty-first birthday." She is tragically right. General Pierre Beauregard demands the surrender of Fort Sumter. Major Anderson refuses. Beauregard fires on the fort, ending a way of life.

Good novels are a series of "peaks and valleys," obstacles and temporary victories. Silver's attraction to Dr. Zachary Stuart changes to scorn when he will not take up arms to defend the South. He believes he is called to save lives, not take them.

War comes. Bizarre events leave Silver and her brother Frank's fiancee in danger. They steal away in the dead of night on a heart-breaking 125-mile journey, seeking sanctuary from the only person who can help them: the man Silver once despised. Challenges continue. Caring for the wounded from both sides sickens Silver and leaves her exhausted. Only the approval shining in Dr. Stuart's eyes keeps her going. Then he is gone to field hospitals, to minister to bodies and souls of those on the front lines. Silver works, waits, and prays. Will the horrible war that no longer makes sense be over before it claims Zachary and leaves her with a broken heart?

* * *

Silver is no Scarlett O'Hara, although sharing the same background. I watched her gradually change from a heedless girl to a determined woman who faces incredible hurdles on her path to happiness. True to his convictions, Dr. Stuart courageously works to save patients, first at home in Harmony, than at the battle front. 

  Other books in the series

#1, A Girl Called Cricket. Charity Endicott flees from scandal and searches for love on a Wyoming cattle ranch. Some events from author's parents' courtship are included.

#2, Angel of the North. Evangeline Lawrence vows to atone for driving away the man she loves and serves as a nurse in the Canadian Wilderness. Based on true events.

#3, Hills of Hope. Hope Farrell refuses to marry the man her father chooses, while the soldier she loves fights overseas during World War 1. Based on family stories.

MORE TO COME

#5, Storm Clouds over Chantel. Chantel Evans, runaway bride, seeks  sanctuary on her grandfather's ranch in frontier Montana.

#6, To Love and Cherish. Moonshiner's daughter, Cherish Hathaway, saves disillusioned doctor's life in mid-1800s western North Carolina. Author's father was born in North Carolina. 

Colleen's Books