What is the one major thing that drives the plot of your story? The characters! These characters become real in the minds of your readers the minute they start reading your writing. These characters that become beloved by your audience have to be well-rounded individuals with stories of their own. Knowing how character affects the plot is essential as you begin your writing journey. The main character that you create becomes the heart and soul of your novel, and what you read ahead will help you understand how to make the most of whom you’ve imagined.

 

How Character Affects the Plot in Your Story

One of the most important parts of a character is their history. When creating the backstory for your characters, ask yourself what has happened to them that the reader has not seen? This is a great example of how character affects the plot.

In addition to outlining what your characters look like, also consider what experiences they’ve had that can further drive the plot of your story.

Let’s say something bad happened in one of your character’s pasts… then something in the present plot reminds them of that experience. How is that going to affect the plot of your story? You get to decide, by giving a bit of backstory to your character, it can create an intriguing plot shift.

What about your character’s relationships? Whether past relationships or present ones, relationships between your characters can greatly affect your plotline. Are they good relationships or bad ones? Do your characters lie to one another or are they brutally honest? All of these factors show how character affects the plot in some way if you let it.

One way your character affects the plot is with their ambitions. Ambition is what drives us as humans, and it is no different for the character you have created. Their ambition drives them, which then leads them to drive the plot. Give your character a relatable ambition, an ambition that our readers can root for wholeheartedly. Give us a view into the inner workings of your character’s mind through descriptive writing and then the reader will be able to see how character affects the plot.

These few examples should help you to further develop the plot for your book with your characters in mind.