Which came first: the characters or the story?

[Qew]

A lot of people here seem to place the 'story' and situations that transpire central to a piece of literature. As much as that's true, I find it more natural to picture it the other way, a bit more like real life.

Create your characters in a certain setting and then let them grow and propagate as themselves rather than fitting them to a role to make things happen as you want them to. I find that way it also makes stories write themselves, or rather, letting your characters write their own plot!

But it does really depend on the genre and what you want to accomplish.

[toshilou]

Usually I think of a story first and make characters as I go, but there is one that I started working on where I made up a character in my mind and then thought of a perfect story for that one character. Then I just added a few more to the story.

[TaWo98]

I don't think one came before the other. That they are both one in a way. You can't have a character without a story that helped shaped them to be who they are you also can't have a story with no characters to act and move the stories along. They need one another for them to be what they are.

[thenameisZelda]

Sometimes I start with one character and go from there, other times I come up with a story first and then add characters. It really just depends on what inspires me at that moment.

[Ncuffee21]

That is actually a very good idea. I like to create the characters as I complete the first chapter. By then I'm about to gain a clear understanding of where and how I want the characters to go.

[ipekbunsal]

I always think about the story first. The characters come after that. Then I try to find characters who'll make the story most interesting.

[Tseve87]

for me my story idea develops first. However once I have that idea I will do the characters and write down who they are and any information I need for that character. when I was younger I use to do my character first but then the idea I had for that character never fit so I switched and began the story and once names come to me I then began my character backgrounds.

[haikudude]

Free form. A friend of mine paid me a compliment after reading my responses to
a series of prompts given us by the moderator of a writing group we both belong to.
He said he finally understood my methodology: you have none. You start somewhere
and let the words and ideas feed off one another. What's created is completely improvised. It is presented in a familiar format, and not a nonsensical array of words
(that's what John Coltrane's experiments sound like to me.) I've had limited contact with nuanced writing, but I believe "free form" is a fair appraisal. When I see the words
in tandem, I think of Steve Winwood, "The Low Spark of High Heel Boys" As often as I've listened to it, I've never tried to decipher it. I think that it is Winwood's genius and
should remain unconfined. I "wrote" this two minutes ago. Her virginity was very special to her. She referred to the act that would take her virginity as "deflowered."
She used the term so often, she'd made a whore out of it. Her latest update considered
the possibility of shedding her albatross in an aquatic environment. "I hope it's the
shallow end of the pool. I'm a terrible swimmer."
NB: I think my friend was very kind. I'm not a genius and am not comparing myself to
Winwood or Coltrane or anyone. There is no one theme or character running through
the body of literature I've produced. But there needs to be. Or I'll just be stuck with a
million pieces to a million jig saw puzzles. How you gonna build a railroad with that?

[RJohnReves]

I believe that it starts with a 'situation and a character' like a yeast in bread

[haikudude]

I don't think there are any hard, fast rules. I'm writing a story now that was suggested
by a couple who owned a dog with an unusual name. The dog's name is reflective
of the way they lived their lives. And serves as a metaphor for the life they lived in Mexico. They were reckless.

[RJohnReves]

The dog is named dopehead?

[Johntherobert]

The character live the story.

[zeldagreene]

Sometimes the character, other times the story. I generally have a plot in mind that is basic and needs development and the character kind of creates itself. S/he just suddenly appears, as if they were destined to be written in the story. That's what happens to me anyway.

[hiluhriehope]

Generally, for me it is the story. The book I'm currently working on started as a plot idea and then the characters kind of made themselves as I started writing.
However, I do have characters that I have thought of, but haven't used. I have a folder on my computer chock full of random character sketches. Most of them I will probably never use, but some will find their story.

[Radhika_17]

For me.. The story came up first and then the characters got weaved up according to the story. It was just a flow that got me to introduce new characters and make them to relate with the leads.