Are character-driven stories better than plot-driven ones?

A

Aspiring Mogul

Most people who read my posts know I'm trying to develop a science-fiction story, and someone has suggested it's the characters who make the story.

That's my preference, and I've pretty well decided to go that route. I've done some research on the web on both versions, and, of course, most stories have a mix of both. To me, this would be especially true for SF, because most SF involve a plot element that drives the story - if there was warp drive, what would happen? But I'd like to get some feedback from others on this forum on the two.

Someone also told me characters make the SF story more memorable, but that's not necessarily true. Asimov's Foundation novels are all plot driven, and he was notorious for not having good characters, and yet his novels have stood the test of time. The Exorcist is a film that is plot driven, and it remains a classic movie. That said, he had a point when he said the best Star Trek were all character driven, and, for the other franchise, Empire was by far the most memorable of the lot.

If I was to go with arbitrary percentages, I would say the SF story should be 60% character-driven and 40% plot-driven. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
Last edited:
As long as we're tossing arbitrary numbers out, scripts should be 10 billion percent of both!

A more useful answer, though, is likely a more nebulous one: If you're looking to make your script as good as possible, you need to go whichever direction feels better for your script. If you're looking to make it as marketable as possible, most Hollywood blockbusters tend to focus on plot over character, most hit TV show focus more on character over plot.
 
What medium are we talking about? TV tends to be more character driven, where features tend to be both, with studios leaning heavily towards plot driven stories.

In all honesty, if you're mixing the two together, the percentage doesn't really matter. Great movies can be skewed in either direction. It's more to do with the execution, rather than the shallow underlying formula.
 
Are you writing to direct & produce or writing for a spec sale?

If the former, then where/how will it be distributed?
Direct-to-Youtube? Then you're going to want to know the audience that will link to it and recommend to their buddies to watch. A peurile bias might be best.
VOD or hosting distributor? Same as above but with a little more character and plot depth.
Actively marketing distributor? Will demand that there are marketable actors, in which case charater driven comes back into play - but plot gimmicks are welcome.

If the later, then you might wanna consider a reasonable production budget range guesstimate.
Will this be a lo/no budget <$5mil production? It'll need marketable actors = Character driven.
Will this be a $100,00mil effects laden spectacular-fest? Go with plot driven.

My 2 cents.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the input, everyone. :)

This will, for now, be micro-budget. My plan is to do table reads, and perhaps do something almost-no-budget on Youtube, just to see how that works, and I'll provide more details at a future date.

Sweetie said:
What medium are we talking about? TV tends to be more character driven, where features tend to be both, with studios leaning heavily towards plot driven stories.
Click to expand...

You may be right, Sweetie, but that begs the question as to which is better. IOW, if character driven is better, then my film feature should be character driven, like Empire, while, if plot-driven is better, then, even if I was to do a TV series, I would want to focus on plot as opposed to characters, like, say, the typical $6 million man episode.


In all honesty, if you're mixing the two together, the percentage doesn't really matter. Great movies can be skewed in either direction. It's more to do with the execution, rather than the shallow underlying formula.
Click to expand...

I agree, but, again, the issue remains the preference of the story-teller - would you skew your movie in favor of plot or character? I would skew it in favor of character, but, in SF, the plot element is critical.


Rayw, as I said, I will do a direct-to-Youtube no-budget or super-micro-budget for now, but I'm hoping to create a franchise.
 
It depends on your focus and your story. Since you're talking a minimal budget film, plot is very difficult to do within a tight budget. Plot based pieces are more likely to drive your budget higher.

That all being said, I'd go with the heavier plot over character, though this isn't an excuse to make boring characters. The reason I'd go plot is due to marketing. It's easier to sell a plot in pitch over a character... meaning it's easier to market and advertise.

Since you're writing Science Fiction, you should also know your market. Most successful Science Fiction is typically plot driven. While there are exceptions they are few and far between.

That all being said, I'd go head strong with your strength for where you write. Meaning, if you are a strong character writer, write great character pieces instead of writing weaker plot pieces.

Last thing to note, you're looking at Youtube. I haven't heard of that much SciFi working online. Everything that comes to mind is episodal character based pieces, so I'd seriously consider swinging it that way.

Confused yet?
 
Aspiring Mogul said:
Someone also told me characters make the SF story more memorable, but that's not necessarily true. Asimov's Foundation novels are all plot driven, and he was notorious for not having good characters, and yet his novels have stood the test of time.
Click to expand...
Be careful. Comparing novels to a web series and using your
conclusions may not work. Quick, name three successful movies
or TV series adapted from Asimov novels.


Aspiring Mogul said:
If I was to go with arbitrary percentages, I would say the SF story should be 60% character-driven and 40% plot-driven. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
You know, of course, this is the producer talking. Writers do
do write using arbitrary percentages. When you write, take
off your producer hat. Write as a writer.

You probably can do that. So stick with the 60/40 you now have.
 
I am very happy to hear from you again, Rik, very happy.


directorik said:
Be careful. Comparing novels to a web series and using your
conclusions may not work. Quick, name three successful movies
or TV series adapted from Asimov novels.
Click to expand...

I can think of at least two - I, Robot, the movie. He also wrote a plot for another movie, "Fantastic Voyage", which was again plot-driven, and, while it was well-received, I don't know if it did very well financially, because it made $12 million on a $5 million budget. And his friend, Arthur C. Clarke, had the classic movie, 2001, which was definitely NOT character-driven. Planet of the Apes, with Charlton Heston, was also plot-driven. But no one knows anything, right? :D


You know, of course, this is the producer talking. Writers do
do write using arbitrary percentages. When you write, take
off your producer hat. Write as a writer.

You probably can do that. So stick with the 60/40 you now have.
Click to expand...

When I say, "60/40", it's just a means of saying I would skew my story in favor of character-development, as opposed to plot development. All good stories must have a bit of both, and SF, as I've said, must have a bit of both. That said, the constant critique I hear is that SF films focus on CGI and action, ie, plot, as opposed to characters, and, quite honestly, a CGI-action movie is not much of a SF plot. A true SF plot must involve a scientific- or technological-based event that makes the story.

That said, I've decided to go with character-based stories, because that would be my passion - did Harlan Ellison suggest that to you? But I still want to hear other people's thoughts on the dichotomy.
 
Last edited:
Aspiring Mogul said:
Rayw, as I said, I will do a direct-to-Youtube no-budget or super-micro-budget for now, but I'm hoping to create a franchise.
Click to expand...

I think this is a good approach. If you create a few shorts set within the world or universe you're creating it will prepare people for a feature set in that world and will allow you to focus more on the main narrative you want to tell. In this way you can focus on different characters who may do things which affect what happens in the feature.

Look at it like Marvel's approach building up towards The Avengers. Each individual movie contained elements that prepared audiences, who didn't know much about the characters, gave something for the fans who already knew to look forward to, so when The Avengers finally came out it became the success it is.

As an audience member if I saw a series of shorts leading up to a feature and those shorts grabbed my attention then I would definitely watch the feature to find out what the story will be, and how loose ends from the stories in the shorts would be tied up.
 
When I say, "60/40", it's just a means of saying I would skew my story in favor of character-development, as opposed to plot development.
Click to expand...

I don't believe character development is quite the same thing as a character driven story. It's hard to do a character driven story without character development, though just because the characters are developed, it doesn't mean that it's character driven.

You can have a story that is massively skewed towards plot and still have character development which doesn't drive the story, that just makes the characters seem more interesting. I guess in a way, that is character driving, but.... meh... what do I know anymore?
 
I like a little bit of both, but I prefer the plot driven ones with character develpment within more. I guess The Dark Knight for example would fall into plot driven more but with character development in between. Where as Drive for example, does not have much plot and concentrates a lot more on character.
 
Aspiring Mogul said:
I can think of at least two - I, Robot, the movie.
Click to expand...

Just keep in mind that the film adaptation of "I, Robot" bore very little resemblance to the novel. In fact, the only things that were similar were the character names.

As always, my thing is sound, not writing (much as I try...). If a film is character driven interesting things still happen to the character. The great challenge with character driven films is "documenting" or showing to the audience the internal conflicts facing the character.
 
Sweetie said:
I don't believe character development is quite the same thing as a character driven story. It's hard to do a character driven story without character development, though just because the characters are developed, it doesn't mean that it's character driven.
Click to expand...

Fellini taught us how to make character driven films without any character development.
 
Aspiring Mogul said:
Most people who read my posts know I'm trying to develop a science-fiction story, and someone has suggested it's the characters who make the story.

That's my preference, and I've pretty well decided to go that route. I've done some research on the web on both versions, and, of course, most stories have a mix of both. To me, this would be especially true for SF, because most SF involve a plot element that drives the story - if there was warp drive, what would happen? But I'd like to get some feedback from others on this forum on the two.

Someone also told me characters make the SF story more memorable, but that's not necessarily true. Asimov's Foundation novels are all plot driven, and he was notorious for not having good characters, and yet his novels have stood the test of time. The Exorcist is a film that is plot driven, and it remains a classic movie. That said, he had a point when he said the best Star Trek were all character driven, and, for the other franchise, Empire was by far the most memorable of the lot.

If I was to go with arbitrary percentages, I would say the SF story should be 60% character-driven and 40% plot-driven. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Solaris - one of the great SF films. It is character driven with little plot.

My most favorite films are character driven as they require an incredible amount of talent and tend to be much more intelligently constructed than plot driven movies. However you should play to your strengths, do what interests you, and what is best in the confines of the story your are trying to tell.
 
Thanks, everyone. I have been watching the SF movies as they come out, to get a feel of the state of the genre.


PhantomScreenwriter said:
I think this is a good approach. If you create a few shorts set within the world or universe you're creating it will prepare people for a feature set in that world and will allow you to focus more on the main narrative you want to tell. In this way you can focus on different characters who may do things which affect what happens in the feature.

Look at it like Marvel's approach building up towards The Avengers. Each individual movie contained elements that prepared audiences, who didn't know much about the characters, gave something for the fans who already knew to look forward to, so when The Avengers finally came out it became the success it is.

As an audience member if I saw a series of shorts leading up to a feature and those shorts grabbed my attention then I would definitely watch the feature to find out what the story will be, and how loose ends from the stories in the shorts would be tied up.
Click to expand...

Phantom, my plan is roughly what you suggested, except I have to fine-tune it. But I'll provide more details later in the year.
 
Aspiring Mogul said:
Phantom, my plan is roughly what you suggested, except I have to fine-tune it. But I'll provide more details later in the year.
Click to expand...

Sounds great. Oh, and another thing, have you also looked at sci-fi short films online? You might find some that you like, some that you hate but at least they might give you a list of things you want to achieve and what you don't want.
 
I was thinking about this thread, and I think Planet of the Apes is character-driven, because we focused on the life of Moses, I mean, Charlton Heston, as he went through his trials and tribulations with apes.

That said, Indiana Jones may be plot-driven, because we don't know much about his personal life. The version with him and Sean Connery, with Connery playing daddy, was more character driven. But the first one, which everyone liked, was plot-driven, if I remember correctly.

And Bruce Lee's films are plot-driven - assuming they even have a plot - but yet everyone can empathize with the legendary martial artist. The original Karate Kid is character-driven, which is why it is still remembered today. But is the Karate Kid more famous than Enter the Dragon? Is little Danny more likable than Bruce Lee? I doubt it.

So plot-driven films aren't necessarily worse than character-driven ones, or this dichotomy would not have continued to exist for so many centuries, if not millennia. The characters in character-driven films are obviously more likable than those in plot-driven reasons, but that does not mean character-driven films are better. And that means that, for as long as we live, story-tellers will struggle between deciding whether their works should be plot-driven or character-driven.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top