What Comes First?

The characters or the plot?

It's been said the characters drive the plot. How your characters react to what's going on determines where the plot goes. That makes sense to me. Consider this scenario:

Kelly is walking through the woods. She hears footsteps behind her. How does she react?

If she breaks into a run, what happens?
If she turns around to face whoever is following her, what happens?
If she ducks behind a tree and leaps out onto who is following her, what happens?

Do you see how Kelly's reaction determines where the plot goes?

How about before you write a single word? What comes to you, the plot or the characters? Does it make a difference for the story? When I got the idea for Fairyeater, the villian (yes, the Fairyeater) came to me first. Then I had to figure out why she eats fairies and what happens when she eats them. How is the world affected?

After that, I had to come up with a hero who would stop her somehow. Then I had to answer the questions, why does she need to stop the Fairyeater? What would happen if she didn't? What is the ticking time bomb - meaning, if the Fairyeater isn't stopped by a certain time, what will happen?

So, let's talk about how the characters drive the plot this week. Next week, we'll look closer at character development.