The Storytelling Graph

I’ve heard a lot about character-driven novels vs. plot-driven novels, character-driven novels being the more literary, and reflective examinations of humanity and plot-driven novels focusing more on events. I general they’re easier and a little more fun to read. Authors usually develop one over the other depending upon what genre they’re writing or what literary movement they’re from. I don’t mean a writer always develops one at the expense of the other. For example, science fiction usually demands more from the plot than the characters. A few authors strike a good balance between the two and I think these authors are among the best.

Both of these are important components of storytelling, even if I believe character is a little more important than plot in most cases. A story can take feature survival on the high seas, sacrifice on a desert battlefield, or the break-down of a relationship in a seedy hotel, but if I’m not invested in the characters, I won’t care when something happens to them. The characters don’t necessarily have to be sympathetic or even likable, but they have to have dimension. I have to feel their anger when they are cheated, their sorrow when they lose, their sense of triumph when they overcome. On the other hand, some novels (particularly from early Modernism) focus almost exclusively on the characters and let the plot take a back seat. This can work sometimes but the characters better be pretty damn interesting. A story isn’t much of a story without conflict.

Since I’m a pretty visual person in how I solve problems, I tried charting out a graph plotting famous authors between “character” and “plot” but decided to add a third component to make it more interesting: style - which would include voice, the organization of the novel, and diction. Many authors are known for their style whether it’s the sharp punctuating words of Norman Mailer, the free association and play on words of the Beats, or Victor Hugo’s dense sentences with word counts surpassing the hundreds, but for some writers, the style outweighs the substance. There are some novels seem solely about the impressive, poetic language but when I finish a chapter, I have no idea what actually happened to the main character or whoever that is (I’m looking at you, Thomas Pynchon). Style is certainly something to be proud of, even encouraged, but an author cannot let it overtake his writing or the plot and character will be completely eclipsed.

This graph is a work in progress. It contains only authors I’ve read (some not in quite a while), but if you see an author that should be on here or if you Baldwin is in the wrong place, please feel free to make suggestions.

Look! I made one for film, too! I know the director shares credit with the actors, producers, and especially the writers of the screenplay, but surely you can see some trends with the movies certain directors take on and how they choose to make them.