The Writing Nut

* NOTE: This article is actually from one of my webpages under Novel writing but I thought I’d post it anyway.

There’s a debate raging on about whether plot-driven stories or character-driven stories make better books. What’s the difference between the two anyway, you ask?

Character-driven stories are propelled forward by the characters of the book. The character’s actions, feelings, thoughts and choices cause the events to happen.  The famed Alice, for instance, fell down a rabbit hole – but she wouldn’t have been there if she hadn’t chosen to follow a certain white rabbit.

Plot-driven stories, on the other hand, are stories where things happen to the character. The characters react to the events happening around them and do not actively create the events or situations by themselves.

I, myself, am more partial to character-driven stories. I love a book that can make me relate to the character on its pages, and I love characters I can find similarities with. But that’s just me.  Whatever our preferences are, one thing is important to keep in mind: character and plot are inevitably intertwined. Without these two elements working hand in hand, a book will not stand the test of time.

The following books have been helpful to me with regard to creating my characters and developing my plot. They are invaluable references and are written by people who know what they’re talking about. I reread them constantly whenever I’m stuck on a character or story idea and I find their sage advice consistently helpful.

1. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers (3rd Edition) By Christopher Vogler

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions; 3rd edition (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193290736X
• ISBN-13: 978-1932907360
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.5 inches

About the Author

CHRISTOPHER VOGLER is Hollywood development executive who has worked for Disney, Fox and Warner Brothers.  If you’ve watched The Spiderwick Chronicles, Beowulf, 10,000 BC, I Am Legend, Hancock, Then She Found Me or The Wrestler, then you’ve seen the result of his consulting work.

About the Book (Amazon.com Review)

At the beginning of The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler asserts that “all stories consist of a few common structural elements found universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams, and movies.” Some may be hard-pressed to accept this idea (and will wonder how storytellers from Homer to Shakespeare to Robert Altman might respond to the proposition). Others may imagine that since Vogler uses movies like the Star Wars trilogy and The Lion King to defend his mythological philosophy, he is, unwittingly, listing the reasons why Hollywood films of the last 20 years have been so unimaginative. But there’s no doubt that Vogler’s notion, based on psychological writings by Carl Jung and the mythmaking philosophy of Joseph Campbell, has been profoundly influential. Many screenwriters have used Vogler’s volume to understand why certain scenarios sell, and to discover a blueprint for creating mythic stories of their own.

Now in its second edition, The Writer’s Journey sets forth archetypes common in what Vogler calls “the hero’s journey,” the mythic structure that he claims all stories follow. In the book’s first section, he lists the different kinds of typological characters who appear in stories. In the second, he discusses the stages of the journey through which the hero generally passes. The final, supplementary portion of the book explains in detail how films like Titanic and The Full Monty follow the patterns he has outlined. –Raphael Shargel –

How the Book Helps Writers (Or My Review)

By combining Carl Jung’s psychological writings on Archetypes with Joseph Campbell’s myth-making lessons, Vogler has created a valuable tool for writers who’d like to create characters who stand out in our imagination. In this book, Vogler discusses eight archetypes and their role in the Hero’s Journey. More importantly, he talks about the twelve stages of the hero’s journey.

I had a story idea and several unconnected scenes in my head. Using the 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey, I was able to create a sensible story arc with the scattered scenes. The chapter on archetypes also helped me flesh out my character with regard to the role they’re supposed to play in my story.

The book also has appendices which I found useful. The appendix on Polarity, in particular, helped me shape my hero and villain’s relationship with each other to create more conflict.

2. Inner Drives: How to Write and Create Characters Using the Eight Classic Centers of Motivation by Pamela Jaye Smith

Product Details

• Paperback: 239 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions; illustrated edition edition (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932907033
• ISBN-13: 978-1932907032
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces

About the Author

PAMELA JAYE SMITH is a Writer, Mythologist, Consultant, Speaker, and award-winning Producer/Director with international clients and credits in features, TV, commercials, music videos, documentaries, and corporate films.

About the Book (From the Author’s Website )

Inspiring and practical, INNER DRIVES goes to the very source of character motivation and action. Exploring the fascinating world of archetypes, mythology, and the chakra system, writers will learn to apply timeless principals of successful story-telling through fascinating examples and valuable exercises.

From patterns of speech to styles of walking, writers can use Pamela Jaye Smith’s guide to structure character arcs, devise backstories, up the conflict, pair up couples, and form ensembles — all with unique, believable characters.

Informative and entertaining, this book helps writers, directors, designers, development executives, and actors expand their artistry and influence on the audience to gain a creative advantage in a highly competitive industry.

How the Book Helps Writers (Or My Review)

Pamela Jaye Smith approaches character archetypes from the eight centers of motivation. According to her book, Centers of Motivation are bundles of actual physical nerves and their associated endocrine glands which affect us physically and emotionally through the particular hormones secreted by those glands. They are called Chakras in Sanskrit and are said to have etheric counterparts which influence us as well.

The book is divided into three sections. Section 1 is a background and explanation of the inner drives through the centers of motivation. Section 2 explains the eight individual centers.

The centers description is useful in showing how a character focused in a specific center of motivation should look, sound, fell, act and react according to their inner drive. For instance, a character whose center of motivation is in the Root center has only sheer survival as his inner drive and will stop at nothing to save his neck.

Using the insights in each part of section two, you can make your major characters more complex, create in depth backstories, and create other characters who will challenge their moods, thoughts, ideals, actions, etc. and make them more authentic characters.

Section 3 is about how to use the inner drives within and between characters in various combinations. This section is particularly helpful for creating internal conflict ( “a character torn between their own centers makes for very good drama”) and conflict between and among characters.

Once you’ve read the book, you’ll know not only when to plot certain actions but also what to do, why to do it and how to back it up with appropriate character motivation.

3. The Power of the Dark Side: Creating Great Villains by Pamela Jaye Smith

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932907432
• ISBN-13: 978-1932907438
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces

About the Author

PAMELA JAYE SMITH is a Writer, Mythologist, Consultant, Speaker, and award-winning Producer/Director with international clients and credits in features, TV, commercials, music videos, documentaries, and corporate films.

About the Book (From the Author’s Website)

Who doesn’t love the Dark Side? Darth Vader, Cruella De Vil, Tony Soprano – everybody loves a great villain. And every story needs dramatic conflict – internal and external – to really resonate. This comprehensive, accessible book gives you tools to write the most despicable villains.

Conflict is the very heart and soul of drama, and Smith’s latest work explores character conflict and the various ways to portray it both in scripts and on the stage.

Defining the Dark Side helps you select and clarify the worldview that influences your character’s actions.

How the Book Helps Writers (Or My Review)

All great books have great villains or antagonists.  If our stories were all rainbows and roses, it wouldn’t be much of a story. At the heart of a story is conflict – that baptism of fire that tests our characters and makes him or her come out better than before. Conflict, in this book, is otherwise known as the Dark Side.

The book is divided into six parts. In Part 1, Pamela Jaye Smith defines the Dark side and asks, and answers questions like:  What Is Evil? Who Is Evil? Why Is There Evil? What Does Evil Want? Why Is Evil Sometimes So Alluring? What’s The Difference Between Evil And Bad? What Can We Learn From Evil? How Do We Defeat/Defuse Evil?

In Part 2, Pamela Jaye Smith talks about the three levels of the dark side: The Dweller on the Threshold or our Personal demons; The Dark Forces or impersonal forces like the laws of physics, the elements, time, and nature itself; and The Dark Brotherhood or the Supra-Personal entities who control the cosmos and manipulate the evil in the world.

In Part 3 Pamela Jaye Smith describes in detail the many archetypes of villains and the many faces of evil. I found this particularly useful in my own book because I had no idea how to make my villain more evil so I could bring out the best in my hero. Part 3 discusses the anti-hero, the bad boys and girls like the tricksters, evil twins, pirates, bad cops, mad scientists, psycho killers; the evil empires, child warriors, big brothers, organized crime and religion, culture clashes and racism which are all brought about by groupthink; and paranormal evils such as witches, wizards, warlocks, ghosts, ghouls and gods.

Part 4 discusses the lure of the dark side and the many reasons evil-doers do what they do. It also discusses the devices the dark side employs to get their way such as: sleeping with the enemy, violence, dealing with the devil, power corruption, etc.

Part 5 is about confronting the dark side. It discusses the various defenses our good characters can use against them such as charms, chants, therapy, laughter, education, etc,

Part 6 is about working with the dark side—not literally, of course, but literarily. It gives us story tools which we can use to create the best evil we can for our stories.

Pamela Jaye Smith has kept her word and more when she promised the following things at the beginning of her book:

• Your character will be richer if you know and include their worldview of evil, its origins, its goals and its methods, since these beliefs will color how they approach every aspect of the emotions and actions in the story.

• Dramatic conflict can be enhanced by bringing different characters’ belief systems against each other, as well as taking a character through an arc from one belief to another, or to/from, from/to lack of belief

In conclusion, this book is the best out there if you want to create the best (or worst?) conflict you can for your own story. It’s the only book I’ll ever need to create a villain worthy of my hero and a dark side capable of bringing out the light in my characters.

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