Plot Driven VS Character Driven Stories

Let's explore the difference between plot driven stories and character driven stories... plus the BRAIN SCIENCE behind each of these storytelling methods and which one WINS – every time.

0:00 - Introduction
1:14 - Character VS Plot
5:46 - How Your Brain Reacts to Plot
7:19 - Balancing Internal & External Conflict
10:15 - Case Study: Ready Player One
13:14 - Case Study: The Amazing Spider-Man
16:17 - Recap
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✨ V A L U A B L E R E S O U R C E S✨

MORE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:

→ THE BEST CHARACTER PROFILE

→ SHOWING VS TELLING INTERNAL CONFLICT

→ HOW TO WRITE POWERFUL SIDE CHARACTERS

→ HOW TO WRITE THEME INTO YOUR STORY

✨F O L L O W ✨

✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.

Story isn’t about “what happens” — it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel – and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!

✨C R E D I T S ✨
All movie clips and soundtracks used for educational purposes under the Fair Use law. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) copyright Marvel Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, and Laura Ziskin Productions. Ready Player One (2018) copyright Warner Bros., Amblin Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures, and Amblin Partners.

[holleyk]

Spider-Man: into the spiderverse. Every. Single. Character. So well written. I can’t even express how deeply I love this movie.

[shyzunk]

I read almost exclusively high fantasy. The issue is, that fantasy has so much conflict, magic and mystery in it, that it is very tempting to focus on worldbuilding and plot, which is why the characters tend to be flat underneath their cool badass quotes, skills and abilities. I wish more people were able to master both worldbuilding and characters, it seems too often one comes at the cost of the other.

[holleyk]

kung fu panda, believe it or not. It has dumb jokes here and there but the protagonist is super well written!

[Humaneities]

I’ve always loved anime so much, and now i realized why — 99% of anime focuses on a character’s inner conflict so much it’s almost obnoxious! But you grow to love the characters and when they face that huge battle/climax scene it hits you like a punch to the gut. it occurred to me that, actually, anime has a habit of perfectly balancing characters and plot. no wonder it’s so popular!

[A.H._]

Mulan will always be my favorite movie, period. Yeah, yeah, it looks like it’s just a woman dressed up as a man to fight in a war, but is much more than that. It’s about a woman finding herself and her self-worth, and understanding that she’ll bloom in her own way, and that’s OK.
She learning how to fight and actually fighting the Huns is a lot of fun, but is not the important part.

[nikkoleburns]

Thank you for using sci-fi as your examples. I feel like some sci-fi movies are like look at this amazing CGI and not the under developed characters!
People of Hollywood need to watch your channel.

[ItsRainingDolphins]

I think it’s different for everyone though!! My dad can’t stand character driven stories because he doesn’t care about connecting to fictional characters - he just wants to read an interesting plot. Different stories attract different sorts of people. I think as writers we need to get that everyone looks for something different in a story and not everyone is looking for a lesson or a character to connect to. Some people just want a good plot with twists and turns and surprises and the characters are just vehicles to experience it. There’s no wrong reason to read and therefore there’s no wrong thing to focus on when writing. Some people are looking for a good world. Some people are looking for plot twists. Some people are reading to care about characters. I think looking down on plot driven stories is fine, but realize that’s what some people look for in a story, which is fine too!

Furthermore, plot driven stories don’t actually mean we don’t care about the characters. It just means the plot is what decides the character’s actions and pushes the story forward, not the character’s inner deliberations. In many examples of character driven stories, nothing really HAPPENS because the author is focused on telling the character’s story and thoughts instead of an adventure. And that’s fine! Some people dig that.

Character driven stories aren’t just stories where you care about the characters, and plot driven stories aren’t just forgetting about the characters in favor of plot. It’s just a term used to describe motivation. A lot of “character driven” stories I find the characters unlikable and am turned off immediately. Too much emphasis is on how the characters are feeling and I don’t care and there’s no interesting plot to fall back on. Like your misbelief thing - some of the misbeliefs chosen in stories are so cringy and ridiculous I can’t stand to read any more to find out if the character learns from his mistakes. Whereas a book that focuses more on plot has the potential to be interesting and impactful even if I stop caring about the characters. It just depends. I think it’s important we as creative people don’t dismiss other points of view as inferior just because we don’t personally like it. We talked about that during my creative writing course in college haha. Anyway I enjoyed the video and your aesthetic is so pretty!!!

[josieroth]

Little Women: I grew to love all of these characters and really felt like I knew them. They all go through so much growth as people, and I love it!

[TheThreeBookshelves]

I’m sure someone’s already said it, but in the book, Ready Player One actually has great internal conflict and arcs for the protagonist and side characters... though it does still suffer from some infodumping at the beginning. The movie basically went, “Let’s throw out everything about these characters and stick in a high-speed race with King Kong and a T-Rex instead!” The book goes a thousand times deeper than anything in the movie did.

My favorite thing is Lost. There’s plot happening ALL over the place, but the backstories we get for each character in various episodes gives meaning to what’s happening on the island in the present. Some of the best character development ever written (and performed) in that show.

[t.l.e.e.]

Avatar the Last Airbender is Character driven.... while The Legend of Kora is Plot driven.... I had been wondering recently why one made such a significant impact on me and why I didnt even remember the names of characters from the other.

[AFlawInThePlanDH]

Speaking of Marvel movies, I actually think the first Captain America film, although not the best film, is pretty character driven. Steve is a great character, but some of the movies didn't do him justice at all.

[crystalsummer]

This just helped me have a MAJOR breakthrough with a character! Exactly what I needed today

[hellomehi]

My favorite story of all time is the Hunger Games story. The plot is amazing and well thought out, but the characters are even more so. There are almost no characters who we don't get at least a tasting of internal conflict and the more prominent a character they are the more insight we get. Beautiful.

[emmamichelsohn]

This is so well said and so important. Answering the why it matters question for my MC is what finally got me to finish my outline after 8 years of struggling. Wish I'd found your channel sooner!

[happyfellowship]

Favorite character-driven story??? Hard, there's so many, but I just rewatched Big Hero Six. So good. All the characters are great, it's got action, but the best part is THE EMOTION. My favorite superhero story.

[paulapoetry]

Great video. Characters are the heart of fiction, for sure - but, of course, we need to get the plot right, too. And strong characters are important in every genre. Thank you for recognising this. Stories that focus exclusively, or almost exclusively, upon plot feel so empty. 💝

[YicGaming]

The first Amazing Spider-man is my favorite one out of all the Spidey movies.

My favorite character driven story - I'd have to say either The Witcher 3 or Persona 4. I know, these are videogames not movies or TV so maybe you aren't familiar with them. But just thinking about the characters makes me feel nostalgic as if they are my real friends.

[xryeau_]

To me plot is analogous to the vehicle of a story's narrative and the characters are either driving the plot or experiencing it depending on if they're active or passive (both can be well written) Theme is also important as both the journey and the destination, it ties the narrative of your story in with your plot and your characters

[themisha]

Ready Player One is a WONDERFUL book. The book has very few similarities to the film and it's really a rivetting story that is very character driven. It's sad that they changed so much in the film.

[JJalloh]

Success is measured by the lives impacted not by sales.

Another great gem.