I have a treat for you all today! Melodie Campbell, aka "Funny Girl" gives us her slant on which comes first - character or plot. Her answer may surprise you but it will definitely delight you!
Which brings me to a favorite discussion
topic shared by fiction writers in all locales… if plot is the chicken,
and character the egg (or eggs), which comes first?
As an author and teacher of writing, I
always recommend starting with plot.
It could be that genre has an influence
here. I cut my publishing teeth in two
arenas: the mystery short story and the newspaper humor column. In both cases, I didn’t start writing until I
knew the ending or the punch line at the end.
A good mystery takes clever planning and marches with confidence toward
(hopefully) a sizzling conclusion.
Believe it or not, comedy writing is similar, in that it is remarkably
disciplined. You picture a funny
situation. Then you work at finding the
words to make your scene (your plot) come to life. The end has to be sharp, has to ‘leave ‘um
laughing’. That takes careful planning.
In writing A Purse to Die For, the mystery plot was foremost. The plot itself is not funny – it is a
classic Agatha Christie style whodunit.
But the characters – well, that’s where I put my comic relief. Sly wit was the goal here. Put a bunch of greedy characters at the
funeral of a rich relative, and watch the delicious sarcasm fly!
But even when I am writing romantic comedy
and fantasy, my training has made it so that plot gets top billing. The conflict that makes up my plot will
usually signal who I need to people the tale.
In Rowena Through the Wall, I wanted someone who had the guts to
walk through the wall in the first place.
The plot needed a character who was spunky, who was smart, and who would
be the cause of a lot of hot passion among the guys on the other side of the
wall. Magic was going to be a player in
the plot, which allowed me to give my gal a little power. So…a smart, spunky girl becomes a
veterinarian with a certain power over animals…an ‘animal whisperer’ on
steroids, so to speak. Thank you, Plot,
for showing me my protagonist!
And this is why we sometimes hear, ‘my
characters wrote themselves.’ Well,
maybe not exactly. But right now I’m
having a pretty good argument with Rowena about whom she is going to end up
with. Darn, that girl can be stubborn.
What’s more treacherous than navigating a
pack of society matrons at a designer sale?
Available at Amazon.com,
Amazon.ca and European Amazon sites.
Plot or Character – Which Comes First? The Literary Slut Comes Clean…
I’m not a slut, I swear. (Okay, maybe a
Literary Slut, in that I write in many genres, but that is ALL.) So it rather shocked me when my character
Rowena started acting in a manner that I personally would not have dared
consider for myself. It was, however,
quite natural for her, and essential for my plot.
Which brings me to a favorite discussion
topic shared by fiction writers in all locales… if plot is the chicken,
and character the egg (or eggs), which comes first?
Here’s what I do: I devise the plot in my
head, and then figure out what sort of characters I need to make the plot
work. I hear other authors state that
they start with character, but I don’t.
To me, plot is king. ‘Tell me a
story.’ That’s the mantra I chant and
live by.
But even when I am writing romantic comedy
and fantasy, my training has made it so that plot gets top billing. The conflict that makes up my plot will
usually signal who I need to people the tale.
In Rowena Through the Wall, I wanted someone who had the guts to
walk through the wall in the first place.
The plot needed a character who was spunky, who was smart, and who would
be the cause of a lot of hot passion among the guys on the other side of the
wall. Magic was going to be a player in
the plot, which allowed me to give my gal a little power. So…a smart, spunky girl becomes a
veterinarian with a certain power over animals…an ‘animal whisperer’ on
steroids, so to speak. Thank you, Plot,
for showing me my protagonist!
What about the other characters? Now – who would attract a woman like Rowena?
(Remember: smart, sexy, spunky.)
Obviously, someone worthy; I would need strong male characters with
vivid personalities, very different from each other. Perhaps some with special gifts and maybe one
with evil powers. Thanks again, Plot - there’s my antagonist!
The funny thing about starting with plot is
that some reviewers have said that characterization is a strength of mine. I attribute this to the fact that when you
create strong plots with lots of conflict, your characters become vivid to
support the action. They become
who they need to be. They almost
tell you themselves how to write them.
A
Purse to Die For
Stalking a killer…
“A delectable concoction of savory and
unsavory characters, sex, delicious humour and suspense” Garry Ryan, Award-winning author of
Malabarista
Available in ebook at Amazon.com
Paperback to follow
Rowena
Through the Wall
“Is that a broadsword on your belt, or are
you just glad to see me?”
“Hot and Hilarious!” Midwest Book Review
“Jack Sparrow meets Stephanie Plum” Former editor, Distant Suns Fantasy Magazine
Available at Amazon.com,
Amazon.ca and European Amazon sites.
Melodie Campbell has been a bank
manager, marketing director, comedy writer, college instructor and possibly the
worst runway model ever. Melodie got her
start writing comedy, so it’s no surprise that editors have called her fiction
“wacky” and “laugh out loud funny”. She
has over 200 publications and has won six awards for fiction. She was a finalist for both the 2012
Derringer and Arthur Ellis Awards and is the General Manager of Crime Writers
of Canada.
Follow Melodie’s comic blog at
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