I’m not a rower

I write lists. My current TTD (Things To Do) list, has 16 items on it and 6 are crossed out. The list has not been updated since the start of the Paris ’24 Olympics – I’m glued.

Glued no more so than by Team GB women’s quadruple sculls last-stroke victory beating the Dutch crew on the line. 

But here’s my non-rowing question: do the boats move backwards or forwards? It’s like many deep questions in life. Last week I started a heated discussion by asking whether the top of a plain chocolate digestive is the biscuit or the chocolate.

A similar question divides writers: what comes first Plot or Character?

I’m working on a novel. Thus far I’ve written the first draft, had a beta-reader (daughter 3), re-drafted, sent to an editor (book sliced in two), back to my beta-reader and further changes, and finally submitted to a publishing group. A comment arose re: ‘information dumping’. In other words, I’d given insufficient attention to my characters' inner worlds, motivations, and personalities. 

So I’ve had to work backwards, character after plot. A bit like colouring in.

Whichever you prefer, plot v character, I can recommend two ‘how to write’ books:

Write Away by Elizabeth George – chapter 1 Story is Character, Hodder

The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing by numerous novelists, Writer’s Digest

I’ve probably got the ‘Writing at the desk’ v ‘Olympics on the sofa’ balance a bit skew whiff in the past week or so, but, in my gaps from Paris ‘24, I’ve found the Complete Handbook chapter by Jeff Gerke ‘Drilling Down to the Core Personality’ particularly useful. He recommends Myers-Briggs personality-type combinations as a basis for characters…but hints that it’s when characters act ‘out of character’ that often shifts a story from the predictable to the attention-grabbing. 

To conclude. Does it matter whether rowing boats go forwards or backwards, or which side of a biscuit is the top, or whether the plot or character comes first? Oh boy – yes! Ask anyone the biscuit question, stand back, and enjoy the look of astonishment and disbelief if you disagree. 

The same is true with which should come first, plot or character? Top novelists disagree. Some create characters and let the plot unfold, others ‘see’ the plot and build characters to make it work.

But, worry not, as long as you believe the chocolate in a chocolate digestive is (a) plain and (b) on top, I will still read your next book.