Plot, Characters, World—A Cage Match
This is a huge debate for most people. There is no right or wrong answer, technically speaking. It’s all about preference. What do YOU like best in a story? (Feel free to answer below.) I have a definitive answer for myself, but everything IS important, don't get me wrong, I see the value in all parts, but this is my preference.
For this post, I’ll talk about them from least favorite, to favorite. And I’ll explain my reasoning along the way.
3. Plot
Plot is important. Let’s start there. It’s the what are we doing? of a story. There is no doubt that it’s important. However, there’s a thing about plot. Some people say, well, there are only seven types. Some boil it down to six or four. Technically all plot can be boiled down to one thing: there’s a problem—or more comically: I got a bad feeling about this.
All plot is is a problem that needs to be fixed. If there’s a problem, there’s a plot. I’ve seen a plot wherein the problem was “character is bored” and guess what… it worked.
Plot is essential, sure. But by this point, we’ve seen all the plots possible. Fetch quest? Seen it. Epic journey? Seen it. Tragedy? Seen it. Mystery? Seen it. Hero’s journey? We’ve seen it. Heist? Seen it. Inner demons? Seen it. Combinations of those? Seen them.
Plot tends to be at the bottom of the pile for me. (And I have a really, really good example to explain this whole blog post! I literally just came up with it. Ooh! This will be fun. It’ll come at the end.)
Don’t get me wrong, I like a solid plot. I like going on a journey, but once you get a chapter or two into a book or series, you know where the plot is heading. You know someone is going to betray the hero (even if you don’t know who) you know there will be struggles and trials. You know the mentor has to die tragically. We get it, right?
Plot is cool, but it’s, to me, really just the chip that carries the guac and salsa or the crust that holds that delicious pie filling. Is it necessary? Yes. Is it my favorite part of the pie? Well… no.
In fact, because we’ve seen all the plots possible, it’s usually the dullest part of a story. It is the first thing to fall apart in a story, because all plots require a world and characters. No world? No place for the plot. No engaging characters? Why should I care that there’s a problem if I don’t care about the people experiencing it.
Some stories go at break-neck paces, thinking dashing adventures are the best thing ever… but I get bored easily. Because usually, when someone is going that fast, they haven’t stopped to give a reason to care. I read through a story and it was back to back to back to back action that I nearly DNF’d (one character who showed up for like two chapters saved the book for me and I kept waiting for them to come back meaningfully, but they never did, should have DNF'd, to be honest). There's no room for breathing in stories like that… but I'm not left breathless, because if there is no one in the story what's the point of a plot? There's no reason to feel attachment. No reason to care.
Think Raiders of the Lost Ark (I just learned I can’t spell Ark, I do words good, I be author, write much books). Sorry! Anyway. Think Raiders of the Lost Ark. Right at the beginning. Think of all those traps! The arrows! The pits! The big boulder!!!!
Now, go watch that scene and pretend that Indie isn’t there. Just erase him from the scene. Why do I care if arrows fire? I don’t. Why do I care about the boulder? I don’t.
No characters? =No plot. No texture to the world? = No plot.
Plot is the last thing I worry about. Is it important? Hell yeah. People got to people. World gotta turn. But we’ve seen all the plots ever, and it cannot survive at all without anything else backing it up.
2. World/World Building
This? This right here is where stories start to get fun for me. Though plots aren’t unique at this point, worlds can be. Sure, we all draw from what we know, but there is a lot of imagination that goes into building a world.
Most of which, never sees the light of day.
Why does this culture act this way? What’s up with that tradition? Why is that color sacred? Why are people named that way? Why won’t they eat this food? Why is this thing shunned? Why is that thing shamed? Why the hell is the sky pink? (That’s a question for another book though.)
Sure, some of these questions get answered. Others, you’ll never know the answers to. And it makes your mind fill with all sorts of ideas.
For instance, in a series I’m writing, The Warrior and the Mage, all the mages are named after the first magic they perform. But, if you look into the ancient texts on the planet, mages weren’t always named like that. Why? As the author, I know why. Am I going to explain it? Probably not. But whenever a reader sees a name like Brightly or Tox or Stint or Vanish (definitely Vani for short) within the context of my world, they will know not only that they’re being introduced to a mage character, but also what that character is good at. It’s an obvious thing, sure, but it is a world-building aspect.
So much goes into world-building. Cultures. Foods. Music. Landscaping. Temperature. Length of day. Types of species of flora and fauna. Magic systems. So much piled into it.
When reading and writing, this is where I really have some fun. I like feeling emersed in a new world, but still having questions. Still supposing a little more. Still wanting to know the ins and outs. I want enough to know what it’s like to live and exist in that place and time, but also enough left without answers so there’s still mystery, still room for me to put my own imagination in. Or enough for me to riddle out myself. Because finding hidden gems and Easter Eggs in stories makes it all the more fun, makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something too, not just the characters.
For me, world building is far more intriguing than plot. In most books, hero’s gonna face a problem, hero’s gonna struggle, hero’s gonna win or lose, the end. But the world adds so much texture and color, and can even have a hand in twisting the plot. It for me, is the second most important part of a book. This gives texture, color, a sense of being, a structure. Plus it’s imagination-capturing when done right.
1. Characters
Yup. This has to be here. Because I can go through a dry or predictable plot. I can live with a flat world-build. But if there aren’t decent characters? I’m out. Lack of characters/flat characters is the first thing that will make me not finish something.
I will put a book or show or movie down and be done. I won’t be sad about it either.
I’ve had shows/movies/books/games that had an awful plot and no worldbuilding that have kept me on the hook because gosh darn it I really like that one character, okay?! (No shade to fans, but I will finish Once Upon a Time one day, just for Rumpelstiltskin and I know it. It’s not my thing, but I liked his character, so guess who will watch that show eventually? This girl.)
Characters are the heartbeat of any story. They’re the lens that we view all that worldbuilding from. They’re the way we interact with the plot. If the character is flat and boring… so too will be the world and the plot.
A boring/predictable plot can be made engaging by a good character.
A familiar, tired world can be enhanced and mad beautiful with a brilliant character.
The foundation to all of my stories are the people in them. Even the ones that may be considered reprehensible—I love them. You ask me to summarize any work of mine, I’ll tell you all about my character, their backstory, their world, and how they fit into it. The last thing usually on my mind is them going from A to Z. I care far more about the person, than the thing. Because, as in real life, all people are going from A to Z and what they’re doing isn’t nearly as special as WHO they are while they do it.
‘Who’s matter most to me. This is the heartbeat of a story. Take out the people, the (in)human connection? And you have nothing. A description of a world can be breathtaking, but does it matter if you can’t feel it? A plot can be insane and complex, but does if matter if no one is there to experience it with us?
People, in real life and in books, matter most to me.
…
Now for a fun comparison that I mentioned earlier. Let’s talk about Avatar: The Last Airbender.
If you have seen the show and the M. Night movie, you may see where I’m going with this.
The show and the movie have the same plot, same ‘world,’ and same ‘characters’ (as long as you don’t count the Aang/Ong, Sokka/Sooca thing).
Let’s talk about it. Because almost everyone agrees that Avatar: The Last Airbender show is a beautiful piece of art and that the movie is the worst movie ever made. Let’s talk about what makes it different.
The plot is largely the same. The movie follows Book 1 of the show. And we can even forgive that some things were left on the cutting room floor, right? Changing about seven-ish hours into under two means stuff has to get cut. That’s how adaptations work.
Let’s look at plot:
Boy found in ice must fulfil his duty as Avatar and master all four elements to help fight a war because—gasp—everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.
Plot is the same, right? Cool. Pacing is off, because adaptation, but usually we forgive that, because adaptations have to do that. So that’s not the reason why we hate the movie, is it? If the plot is the same… it can’t be the reason why we hate the movie and love the show, right? Right.
Let’s talk about the worldbuilding:
In the show, all the nations and towns/villages have their own cultures and styles and stories. They all have their own ways of existing and interacting with the world. The colors they wear. The food they eat. The bending abilities they perform. The way they travel and communicate. Their style of fighting. It’s all different.
The cultures at large have certain characteristics, but are the swamp dwellers like the tribe in the south pole? Nope. But they’re still water benders and have similar traits.
Think about the fighting and bending. Air Nomads are often defensive and light on their feet. When we flash back in Aang’s memories, they’re using their abilities to play together in his culture. When you look at the Water Nation, they build and heal and protect with their abilities (not Hama, no association there, haha). The Fire Nation get out their aggression in agni kai’s and forge war machines. The Earth Kingdom has WrestleMania for God’s sake! There is a vast difference, not only in bending, but the approach to using that power too. And it all makes sense why each culture developed that attitude because of what their strengths are.
Do we get that detail in the movie? No. Not really. And that’s frustrating, isn’t it? Not seeing the world, you know and love come to life feels like a rip-off. We get some vague color coordination. Fire nation has machines… but… eh, falls flat.
But the worst part of the movie?
The CHARACTERS.
We lose them.
The show has bright, vibrant characters that are complex. They shift and change and grow. Don’t even get me started on them, because I could write a book about it. We can talk about Zuko for years. Iroh? Toph? Katara? Sokka! Hell, even Hama! But you want to know who doesn’t get enough credit?
Aang. (Not Ong.)
Aang is a child. Carefree, loving, kind. He wants peace, not war. And throughout his journey he has to grow. He has to learn so much. And that is a wonderful, beautiful thing. You want to know what’s better than all that?
He doesn’t change. That’s what makes him special.
He sticks to his principles even when the entire world tells him he doesn’t have a choice. That is some powerful shit. We all love a character that grows and becomes a better version of themselves (Hey, Zuko here.). But here’s to the kings and queens out there who start off with so much good in them, and manage to hold onto it throughout the horror they see. Good on you Aang! I love a character that can see horror and keep their peace and give that peace to others.
Do we get that in the movie?
From anyone?
Nope. Cardboard. We get cut-outs. Tropes. Not even just tropes, but lazy and flat tropes.
I’m not going to blame child actors for that either. It’s lazy through and through. We’ve seen that kids can act by this point, I mean, have you seen The Haunting of Hill House? Jesus! (If you haven’t watched that show, please do, everything about it is gorgeous, down to how many steps characters take. Fun fact, anyone know why Luke always counts to seven? It ain’t just ‘cus his family has seven members, watch the show again, and count!)
I digress, sorry!
The movie took beloved, perfectly crafted and painted characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender and ripped them up, flattened them down, and replaced them with some of my drawings. (I can’t draw a stick figure, if that helps the metaphor.)
That is what draws the line between the movie and the show. The plot is largely the same, so that isn’t what ruined it. The characters and world were stripped away, and that is what ruined it.
So, yeah. There’s my lengthy rant on why characters are my favorite part of a story and why plot (in a larger sense) doesn’t really matter. (I mean, we know it does, but you get what I mean.)
Special shout out to the unexpected Avatar cameo, did not go into writing this thinking that would happen.
If you haven’t seen the show, don’t let the ‘animated’ ‘kid show’ wrapping get you down. Go watch it. The story is worth it.
If you haven’t seen the movie, bless you—and never ever watch it. It’s horrible. -1/10, do not recommend.
(But I still totally recommend Haunting of Hill House. Chef kiss on that one. Characters are great, all of them get their own episode and you learn so much about them, world (the house) is intriguing, and the plot is twisty.)
Take Care, Everyone.
-Marissa
For this post, I’ll talk about them from least favorite, to favorite. And I’ll explain my reasoning along the way.
3. Plot
Plot is important. Let’s start there. It’s the what are we doing? of a story. There is no doubt that it’s important. However, there’s a thing about plot. Some people say, well, there are only seven types. Some boil it down to six or four. Technically all plot can be boiled down to one thing: there’s a problem—or more comically: I got a bad feeling about this.
All plot is is a problem that needs to be fixed. If there’s a problem, there’s a plot. I’ve seen a plot wherein the problem was “character is bored” and guess what… it worked.
Plot is essential, sure. But by this point, we’ve seen all the plots possible. Fetch quest? Seen it. Epic journey? Seen it. Tragedy? Seen it. Mystery? Seen it. Hero’s journey? We’ve seen it. Heist? Seen it. Inner demons? Seen it. Combinations of those? Seen them.
Plot tends to be at the bottom of the pile for me. (And I have a really, really good example to explain this whole blog post! I literally just came up with it. Ooh! This will be fun. It’ll come at the end.)
Don’t get me wrong, I like a solid plot. I like going on a journey, but once you get a chapter or two into a book or series, you know where the plot is heading. You know someone is going to betray the hero (even if you don’t know who) you know there will be struggles and trials. You know the mentor has to die tragically. We get it, right?
Plot is cool, but it’s, to me, really just the chip that carries the guac and salsa or the crust that holds that delicious pie filling. Is it necessary? Yes. Is it my favorite part of the pie? Well… no.
In fact, because we’ve seen all the plots possible, it’s usually the dullest part of a story. It is the first thing to fall apart in a story, because all plots require a world and characters. No world? No place for the plot. No engaging characters? Why should I care that there’s a problem if I don’t care about the people experiencing it.
Some stories go at break-neck paces, thinking dashing adventures are the best thing ever… but I get bored easily. Because usually, when someone is going that fast, they haven’t stopped to give a reason to care. I read through a story and it was back to back to back to back action that I nearly DNF’d (one character who showed up for like two chapters saved the book for me and I kept waiting for them to come back meaningfully, but they never did, should have DNF'd, to be honest). There's no room for breathing in stories like that… but I'm not left breathless, because if there is no one in the story what's the point of a plot? There's no reason to feel attachment. No reason to care.
Think Raiders of the Lost Ark (I just learned I can’t spell Ark, I do words good, I be author, write much books). Sorry! Anyway. Think Raiders of the Lost Ark. Right at the beginning. Think of all those traps! The arrows! The pits! The big boulder!!!!
Now, go watch that scene and pretend that Indie isn’t there. Just erase him from the scene. Why do I care if arrows fire? I don’t. Why do I care about the boulder? I don’t.
No characters? =No plot. No texture to the world? = No plot.
Plot is the last thing I worry about. Is it important? Hell yeah. People got to people. World gotta turn. But we’ve seen all the plots ever, and it cannot survive at all without anything else backing it up.
2. World/World Building
This? This right here is where stories start to get fun for me. Though plots aren’t unique at this point, worlds can be. Sure, we all draw from what we know, but there is a lot of imagination that goes into building a world.
Most of which, never sees the light of day.
Why does this culture act this way? What’s up with that tradition? Why is that color sacred? Why are people named that way? Why won’t they eat this food? Why is this thing shunned? Why is that thing shamed? Why the hell is the sky pink? (That’s a question for another book though.)
Sure, some of these questions get answered. Others, you’ll never know the answers to. And it makes your mind fill with all sorts of ideas.
For instance, in a series I’m writing, The Warrior and the Mage, all the mages are named after the first magic they perform. But, if you look into the ancient texts on the planet, mages weren’t always named like that. Why? As the author, I know why. Am I going to explain it? Probably not. But whenever a reader sees a name like Brightly or Tox or Stint or Vanish (definitely Vani for short) within the context of my world, they will know not only that they’re being introduced to a mage character, but also what that character is good at. It’s an obvious thing, sure, but it is a world-building aspect.
So much goes into world-building. Cultures. Foods. Music. Landscaping. Temperature. Length of day. Types of species of flora and fauna. Magic systems. So much piled into it.
When reading and writing, this is where I really have some fun. I like feeling emersed in a new world, but still having questions. Still supposing a little more. Still wanting to know the ins and outs. I want enough to know what it’s like to live and exist in that place and time, but also enough left without answers so there’s still mystery, still room for me to put my own imagination in. Or enough for me to riddle out myself. Because finding hidden gems and Easter Eggs in stories makes it all the more fun, makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something too, not just the characters.
For me, world building is far more intriguing than plot. In most books, hero’s gonna face a problem, hero’s gonna struggle, hero’s gonna win or lose, the end. But the world adds so much texture and color, and can even have a hand in twisting the plot. It for me, is the second most important part of a book. This gives texture, color, a sense of being, a structure. Plus it’s imagination-capturing when done right.
1. Characters
Yup. This has to be here. Because I can go through a dry or predictable plot. I can live with a flat world-build. But if there aren’t decent characters? I’m out. Lack of characters/flat characters is the first thing that will make me not finish something.
I will put a book or show or movie down and be done. I won’t be sad about it either.
I’ve had shows/movies/books/games that had an awful plot and no worldbuilding that have kept me on the hook because gosh darn it I really like that one character, okay?! (No shade to fans, but I will finish Once Upon a Time one day, just for Rumpelstiltskin and I know it. It’s not my thing, but I liked his character, so guess who will watch that show eventually? This girl.)
Characters are the heartbeat of any story. They’re the lens that we view all that worldbuilding from. They’re the way we interact with the plot. If the character is flat and boring… so too will be the world and the plot.
A boring/predictable plot can be made engaging by a good character.
A familiar, tired world can be enhanced and mad beautiful with a brilliant character.
The foundation to all of my stories are the people in them. Even the ones that may be considered reprehensible—I love them. You ask me to summarize any work of mine, I’ll tell you all about my character, their backstory, their world, and how they fit into it. The last thing usually on my mind is them going from A to Z. I care far more about the person, than the thing. Because, as in real life, all people are going from A to Z and what they’re doing isn’t nearly as special as WHO they are while they do it.
‘Who’s matter most to me. This is the heartbeat of a story. Take out the people, the (in)human connection? And you have nothing. A description of a world can be breathtaking, but does it matter if you can’t feel it? A plot can be insane and complex, but does if matter if no one is there to experience it with us?
People, in real life and in books, matter most to me.
…
Now for a fun comparison that I mentioned earlier. Let’s talk about Avatar: The Last Airbender.
If you have seen the show and the M. Night movie, you may see where I’m going with this.
The show and the movie have the same plot, same ‘world,’ and same ‘characters’ (as long as you don’t count the Aang/Ong, Sokka/Sooca thing).
Let’s talk about it. Because almost everyone agrees that Avatar: The Last Airbender show is a beautiful piece of art and that the movie is the worst movie ever made. Let’s talk about what makes it different.
The plot is largely the same. The movie follows Book 1 of the show. And we can even forgive that some things were left on the cutting room floor, right? Changing about seven-ish hours into under two means stuff has to get cut. That’s how adaptations work.
Let’s look at plot:
Boy found in ice must fulfil his duty as Avatar and master all four elements to help fight a war because—gasp—everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.
Plot is the same, right? Cool. Pacing is off, because adaptation, but usually we forgive that, because adaptations have to do that. So that’s not the reason why we hate the movie, is it? If the plot is the same… it can’t be the reason why we hate the movie and love the show, right? Right.
Let’s talk about the worldbuilding:
In the show, all the nations and towns/villages have their own cultures and styles and stories. They all have their own ways of existing and interacting with the world. The colors they wear. The food they eat. The bending abilities they perform. The way they travel and communicate. Their style of fighting. It’s all different.
The cultures at large have certain characteristics, but are the swamp dwellers like the tribe in the south pole? Nope. But they’re still water benders and have similar traits.
Think about the fighting and bending. Air Nomads are often defensive and light on their feet. When we flash back in Aang’s memories, they’re using their abilities to play together in his culture. When you look at the Water Nation, they build and heal and protect with their abilities (not Hama, no association there, haha). The Fire Nation get out their aggression in agni kai’s and forge war machines. The Earth Kingdom has WrestleMania for God’s sake! There is a vast difference, not only in bending, but the approach to using that power too. And it all makes sense why each culture developed that attitude because of what their strengths are.
Do we get that detail in the movie? No. Not really. And that’s frustrating, isn’t it? Not seeing the world, you know and love come to life feels like a rip-off. We get some vague color coordination. Fire nation has machines… but… eh, falls flat.
But the worst part of the movie?
The CHARACTERS.
We lose them.
The show has bright, vibrant characters that are complex. They shift and change and grow. Don’t even get me started on them, because I could write a book about it. We can talk about Zuko for years. Iroh? Toph? Katara? Sokka! Hell, even Hama! But you want to know who doesn’t get enough credit?
Aang. (Not Ong.)
Aang is a child. Carefree, loving, kind. He wants peace, not war. And throughout his journey he has to grow. He has to learn so much. And that is a wonderful, beautiful thing. You want to know what’s better than all that?
He doesn’t change. That’s what makes him special.
He sticks to his principles even when the entire world tells him he doesn’t have a choice. That is some powerful shit. We all love a character that grows and becomes a better version of themselves (Hey, Zuko here.). But here’s to the kings and queens out there who start off with so much good in them, and manage to hold onto it throughout the horror they see. Good on you Aang! I love a character that can see horror and keep their peace and give that peace to others.
Do we get that in the movie?
From anyone?
Nope. Cardboard. We get cut-outs. Tropes. Not even just tropes, but lazy and flat tropes.
I’m not going to blame child actors for that either. It’s lazy through and through. We’ve seen that kids can act by this point, I mean, have you seen The Haunting of Hill House? Jesus! (If you haven’t watched that show, please do, everything about it is gorgeous, down to how many steps characters take. Fun fact, anyone know why Luke always counts to seven? It ain’t just ‘cus his family has seven members, watch the show again, and count!)
I digress, sorry!
The movie took beloved, perfectly crafted and painted characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender and ripped them up, flattened them down, and replaced them with some of my drawings. (I can’t draw a stick figure, if that helps the metaphor.)
That is what draws the line between the movie and the show. The plot is largely the same, so that isn’t what ruined it. The characters and world were stripped away, and that is what ruined it.
So, yeah. There’s my lengthy rant on why characters are my favorite part of a story and why plot (in a larger sense) doesn’t really matter. (I mean, we know it does, but you get what I mean.)
Special shout out to the unexpected Avatar cameo, did not go into writing this thinking that would happen.
If you haven’t seen the show, don’t let the ‘animated’ ‘kid show’ wrapping get you down. Go watch it. The story is worth it.
If you haven’t seen the movie, bless you—and never ever watch it. It’s horrible. -1/10, do not recommend.
(But I still totally recommend Haunting of Hill House. Chef kiss on that one. Characters are great, all of them get their own episode and you learn so much about them, world (the house) is intriguing, and the plot is twisty.)
Take Care, Everyone.
-Marissa
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