Characters and Plot

There is a cracking debate raging over on Nathan's blog about Character and Plot: Inseparable!

I believe that when writing fiction that characters and plot should be treated as one and the same.

Because, one character should react differently to an event in the plot than another character. Their reaction is based on that character's abilities and beliefs. It's how they react that make the characters interesting.

As a writer, if you create a character that is quirky but nothing happens to them, then your character has nothing to be quirky about, but give them something big to react to, and you have a whole lot of quirkiness all over your page. That makes for interesting reading.

Our characters live in the plot – the plot is their world.