Plotless fiction?

aprilhenry  linked to a Buzzfeed feature on "unusual bookstore sections," featuring shelves with such labels as "Painful Lives," "Comparative Slavery," "Geek Chic," etc. But it was the picture April posted on her blog, of a shelf called "Plotless Fiction," that got me thinking about that age-old debate: Plot or Character, which is more important?

Ideally, a story will have both: believable three-dimensional characters, and a riveting plot. But often, one element tends to drive the story a bit more. And while I think plot-driven work is more popular, I tend to prefer character-driven work. If a book has a strong plot but cardboard characters, I will read it once, as quickly as I can, just to find out what happens. Then I will never read it again--or think much about it, frankly. Character-driven books are the ones I curl up with, reread, rave about, recommend.

Some of my favorite books are heavy on character and voice, and relatively light on plot. The Catcher in the Rye, for example: Kid drops out of prep school and spends a couple of days wandering around New York. Main Street: Young woman marries small-town doctor and struggles with persistent feelings of being a square peg. And I LOVE these books. I'll be honest: if a character's voice is engaging enough, I'm willing to read his grocery list.

But I'm probably not a typical reader. And, as I said above, ideally a story will have both. Because as awesome as an engaging character's grocery list can be, imagine how much more awesome it would be if the engaging character went somewhere and did something!