Out of character…

All elements of storytelling are important, but (to echo Orwell), some are more important than others: plot, themes, characterization, settings, dialogue, narrative, and so forth all need careful attention, but plot is the most important, then characterization. Many authors put characterization on an equal pedestal with plot, though. It takes two to tango, of course, and the marriage of plot with characterization is also important.

Many writers, fiction writers and screenwriters, make...