Who’s Driving?
If you Google the definition of plot, you get a whole slew of answers. There is, of course, the basic definition: a sequence of events in a story (essentially “what happens”). But that’s so vague. The more I dive into plot, the less I feel like I can say exactly what the definition is. One way I’ve tried to define plot is by deduction: what is a story without a plot?
Character-Driven Stories
I think you could argue every story has some kind of plot, but there are great character-driven stories that come extremely close to being plot-less. And again, I run into the same problem as before: what does character-driven actually mean?
To aid this deduction, here are two examples of my favorite character-driven stories.
The Shawshank Redemption - The main story is just the relationship between Andy and Red in prison (though it’s not without an extremely slow-burning plot of an escape).
A Man Called Ove - The whole story focuses on one curmudgeonly old man and his relationship with the people in his neighborhood. As the story progresses, there isn’t a goal. You just learn more about Ove and his inner transformation.
One interesting thing about character-driven stories is that they are much harder to spoil: the value is more in the journey than the destination. I’m not saying you can’t spoil parts of the stories, but you read or watch these stories mainly to experience the inner struggle along with the characters.
Plot-Driven Stories
With a little more clarity on what a plot isn’t, it’s time to pull out my corporate jargon and “circle back” to trying to define plot. For now, I’ll start with the basics. (I may dive deeper later.) Here are what Christopher Booker calls the seven basic plots:
Overcoming the monster - This is your bread and butter of good overcoming evil.
Rags to riches - A poor character acquires riches or a romantic interest, loses it, and regains it.
The quest - A journey to get somewhere or get something
Voyage and return - This is similar to the quest but less about getting something and more about the experience of being in a new place and what is learned.
Comedy - Often humorous, but it includes more than that: it’s “a pattern where the conflict becomes more and more confusing, but is at last made plain in a single clarifying event.”
Tragedy - The main character has a flaw, which ultimately ruins things.
Rebirth - Something causes a character to change and they usually become better.
I’m sure you can think of a movie or book that uses each of these plots. And you’ll likely find that there are usually character-driven stories intertwined.
Sentence(s) of the Week
Back to A Man Called Ove. Here are a few sentences from the book that show off a little bit of the character work by Fredrik Backman.
Her laughter catches him off guard. As if it’s carbonated and someone has poured it too fast and it’s bubbling over in all directions. It doesn’t fit at all with the gray cement and right-angled garden paving stones. It’s an untidy, mischievous laugh that refuses to go along with rules and prescriptions.
Thanks for reading,
Braden