What Hits You First - Plot or Character?

[dirk2024]

How does your inspiration process work?

So what is your process, and if its plot first, where do they come from?

For me, most of my inspiration comes late at night when I can't sleep. So I intentionally create a fantasy as that often works to put me to sleep. (they aren't always sexual) The problem is, I usually forget what I was thinking about when I wake up in the morning.

With the concept, comes the characters. Who do I want to join me in this fantasy?

The problem comes with me being creative at night, but not productive in the daytime. So I have a bunch of works in progress but not many are complete.

I have two stories complete and published, one 99% done and waiting for the Summertime contest, and four concepts each with multiple WIP's. They will moslty be stand alone stories using the same characters. (Unique characters for each concept) One of the concepts will be a series since its definitely chronological. When awake at night, a thought about one of them pops into my head and I play it out. Now I have learned about the 'forgetting' thing and so I will text a couple of sentences (or paragraphs) to myself so I can flesh them out the next day. I then cobble it into the appropriate WIP and smooth it out. This is where I lose my productivity as usually read, review and re-read and re-review the work in an effort make it seamless, tangible and eliminate any redundancies I may have created. Despite my best efforts, I'm not always successful with this.

I need a nap.

 

[mattmatthews]

If you have dozens of characters floating in your head maybe pick one to focus on at first. Make them the protagonist or central character of your story even if your story ends up with an ensemble cast or the first character becomes secondary to other characters.

My story plots usually begin with one character in a specific situation. That's act one, scene one. My imagination runs from there creating additional characters and settings as the story unfolds.

Plot ideas come from real life--from things that happened or nearly happened or I wish happened.

 

[EmmatheRunner]

I want to read this. Please write it. X

How kind - I'll definitely write it.

Whether it is published or not - I'm a criticism-phobe so none of my hundreds of stories/books have ever actually been posted anywhere yet.

 

[Britva415]

Link please! I had a look at your profile, but couldn't see any lesbian stories.

It's not a lesbian story

 

[THBGato]

It's not a lesbian story

Sad face

Whether it is published or not - I'm a criticism-phobe so none of my hundreds of stories/books have ever actually been posted anywhere yet.

Double sad face.

You could always just send it me. I'm really very nice. Ask anyone

 

[RemoteShadeofGreen]

My inspiration often starts as a bit of dialog in some random location, then broadens to the people who would be having that conversation, and the emotional arc that would contain that dialog and those people. Narrow to broad, I guess. As I start writing, the story reveals itself, the characters show who they are. It's kind of intuitive and seat-of-the-pants, but there's a lot to be said for that.

I focus on erotic romance, so having a plot and emotional arc that can fit with dirty dialog and filthy sex is key for me. Maybe being clear about what you're trying to achieve with your writing will help you narrow down your options to a specific character or plot that ~really~ inspires you. It's challenging for me to write about characters I don't care about enough to get into their head space.

@EmmatheRunner If you're having your characters start with dialog in a pub, why not have them start dialog at a planetarium, when the projector breaks down? Or standing in line for a book signing? Or on a tour bus? Waiting for their take-out orders to be completed? You get the idea.

Life is so fucking interesting! I say, tap your own experiences and throw your characters in random situations with a spirit of adventure. Once you have real inspiration, plot will follow.

Good luck!

 

[AchtungNight]

It depends. Character is more attractive and important but I only have so many characters to use. Plot is important also, characters have to DO SOMETHING. Heh. Tough choice.

 

[Azuldrgon]

How does your inspiration process work?

As I flail around in search of a spark for a new story, I find myself in the very common situation of having probably dozens of characters swirling around in my head, ready to be flung headfirst into a decent story, yet I am bereft of plot ideas.

I typically just stick them in a pub or coffee shop, have them chat and then write the same plot 30 times. Then I come on here and read a few stories and/or the Story Ideas forum and think to myself, how do people come up with this stuff? The ideas are great (I mean sometimes awful, yes, but often great) and it baffles me.

So what is your process, and if its plot first, where do they come from?

Not to sound weird, but it depends.

For my Good Neighbor/Marcie and Leo series, the characters came first because of the person who inspired it and what she was going through at the time. It snowballed from there.

She's a Good Girl was inspired by a Litster and the plot happened when my real life daughter was getting ready to move. It just kind of synced in.

Angel Time is also based on a real person and most of the plot was inspired by fantasies I have had about her.

It all depends really. It's also a reason why I am not writing all the time because inspo isn't a constant cycle.