As you’re plotting events of your story they have to correspond with type of personality your character possesses.

What happens when you plot without thinking of your character?

He will act ‘out of character.’ He will do, say, think, feel things that don’t suit his personality.

For instance…

If your character is a worrier and you place him in a situation where he doesn’t worry, then that’s making him act according to how you want him to act in your plot.

You’re manipulating him to suit your plot - You’re not writing with his personality in mind.

As you plot events in story, simultaneously build your character.

Cross-reference what you have written about your character and situation he is in. Do they correspond?

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Now let’s see if we can make him believable. Remember he lives in same rural area, so what makes him different from rest of workers who are willing to settle for less?

I could say he recently move to that rural area from city. He used to work as a union leader and wanted to get out of rat race. But having fought for workers rights his entire career, he can’t stand now to see injustices and comes to decision to fight for them and himself.

So this character would suit our plot because we need someone like him for our story.

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Example two – Thinking of a character first

We notice a man on street. Something about him triggers our interest so we decide to write about him in a short story. So at this point we will build character first and then work a story around him.

Let’s go back to where we saw him…

He’s walking briskly along a busy street. He’s in a hurry. He’s dressed in a three-piece suit, which indicates he might be a businessman. He’s got a stack of documents under his arm; a briefcase in his left hand and his right hand is occupied by holding phone to his ear, which he’s shouting into.

Let’s observe him closer…

He’s in his mid thirties. He looks authoritative. Perhaps he has his own business. Why is he shouting into phone? Perhaps one of his employees made a mistake, which has cost character a lot of money.

What if this employee made mistake on purpose? What if he’s secretly working for opposition, planted to destroy main character’s company? What if owner of that opposing company is main character’s own brother? Etc…

So as we analyze this character and ask questions about him, our plot begins to unfold.

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Plots and characters have to suit each other.

When we have finished plotting and are ready to write story, they shouldn’t be ill-fitting pieces of a puzzle – They should be a perfect match.

Does your plot suit your characters and vice-versa?