The River and the Canoe, also new group: The School of Thought Pertaining to Logical Plot and Character · 2:06am May 9th, 2013
I've had a number of people question my tendencies to let the characters precede the plotline in importance when it comes to advancing the story, so I figured it was time to spread the word of some of my logic, and the principle I work by: The River and the Canoe. The question I want you all to ask yourselves is the following:
How much do you think about the logic behind your characters' actions, and the way your plot adheres to it?
As a writer and reader favoring longer works myself, I naturally see the need of a guiding light in form of the basic outline of the plot to be written beforehand and worked through, for a story of any notable length to become decently coherent and enjoyable. But while writing - and reading - I also quite often come to a point where I realize that the action a character just took (or I want him to take) in order to advance the plot in the direction needed, completely goes against the logic of the character. Sure, in most cases the reader will never notice, simply because he doesn't have all the information needed to get the hint; but if works stretch out enough, and the characters get enough flesh on their bones that's visible the readers' eyes, you will eventually run into many a snag if you try to force your plot through the disagreement of your characters.
By and large, illogical actions are the ones left unexplained, leaving the reader wondering "why did he do that?" throughout the entire story without answer. As Brandon Sanderson cleverly states, comprehension breeds enjoyment; when your reader can understand the reasoning behind an action that a character takes or the way something happens in the world, he will think it far more interesting, clever and generally good than if he's simply left to scratch his head.
So recently I have let myself leave the plotline as more of a river, with the story itself being a canoe steered downstream by the characters. If you have characters that act logically and according to their natures, then you, as a writer, will spend far less time stuck in ditches you never realized you dug for yourself by forcing the story canoe in a direction where the water's too shallow, instead of letting the characters navigate the churning waters themselves. Focus instead on directing the flow of the river itself where you want it, meandering the way you think works best; by letting the characters do their part by themselves you also reduce the amount of pushing you need to do on your own to keep the canoe going forward.
Of course, this necessitates a meticulous care in creating and getting to know your characters (and the world they live in), but my opinion is that any self-respecting author should have that part down pat before even thinking of writing a good story. For indeed it is not the eyes of the world that we see the events of the story through, but the eyes of the characters in it. That is what we as writers must focus our talents on: like a strategy gamer we must learn that excessive micromanagement pales in efficiency compared to "macromanaging" well-built automated systems. A general with good lieutenants does not need to focus on every single front of a battle, but keep his eyes on the big picture - the strategy, rather than the tactics. An author with good characters does not need to spend time coming up with a solution to every situation they encounter, and keep his focus on the greater plot rather than the lesser - the river, rather than the canoe.
Yes, this got a little long. But what do you think? Also, if you agree with these ideas or simply find yourself interested in more discussion of this practice and its principles, join me and help spreading the word, the logic of the word, and the word of the logic.
MIND = BLOWN
This makes a surprising amount of sense. I'm glad I found this...
As an avid reader and complete novice writer I agree fairly strongly with this. Interesting, dynamic characters make the story and the plot is just a device to provide complex situations to further that development.