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| Photo Credit: Public Domain |
Whether you prefer to construct your story from a character-driven origin or a plot-driven origin, it's important that when the manuscript is complete that your novel is strong...on both counts. When I think about my favorite novels, they're all complex and balanced - I can't tell where the author began her journey when creating her wonderful tale.
So, how do we all accomplish this literary feat?
While I can not claim to have a corner on creating such a well-written novel, I have learned a technique (through trial & error!) that I am attempting to implement all the time. It's a matter of weaving strong plot and character elements together. Since I am primarily a character-driven writer, here's how I attempt to "balance" my manuscripts:
In a nutshell, I begin with the Hero's Journey (which deals with the protagonist) when writing my first draft. When that is complete, I go through the draft & size it up with the Three-act Story Structure (which primarily deals with plot.) Usually lots of my scenes get moved!
As I mentioned above, I approach my stories as a character-driven writer, so the Hero's Journey has been familiar to me for quite some time. However, it was when I began to implement the Three-act Story Structure to my work that I felt my manuscripts began to feel more "balanced." Weaving the two together is not easy, but the result is well worth the effort. Since I needed to better understand the Three-act Story Structure, I drew a dummy sheet that I'm constantly referring to:
Are you a character-driven writer or a plot-driven writer?
Hope this helps!
