Hope for All of Us

Today, at work, I was once again reminded of the dynamic divide among writers. There are World builders, there are the Plot driven, and then there is a third which are called Geniuses.

If you ask a writer who is a natural world builder how they begin to create a tale, they will usually tell you about their main character, or the world that character inhabits. They will describe either in such detail and with so much assurance that you right there in the moment begin to believe this place or person truly exists, and you want to know everything about them.

If you ask naturally plot driven writer how they go about creating a tale you will get a very different answer. They will begin to tell you what is going on in the story, what injustice has been committed or what daring adventure is just starting. They will tell you this with such enthusiasm that you have to know, what happens next.

Both have strengths, and their weaknesses. The character driven writer draws you into the life of their creation and you begin to invest in them, you care what happens, you want to see them succeed, even if that means they take over the world and build an evil empire. The weakness of a character driven writer is that the plot can go in circles, or drag or run down entirely. Characters without strong plot are heartbreaking disappointments.

The plot driven writer is usually able to keep the tale running to the conclusion, and like a roller coaster builder they throw in exciting loops and veers and you have to keep telling yourself to keep your hands inside the vehicle and not get out until it comes to a full and complete stop. The weakness of the plot driven writer is that the character doing all the thrilling things can be so two dimensional that the reader stops investing in them, even going so far as to put the book down and not finish because they don’t care what happens to the protagonist. Or worse, hoping that the protagonist fails.

The third category of writers, named geniuses, are those that make you care about the hero or heroine so deeply you can’t bear to see them fail, and keep the plot moving dangerous and deadly you can’t bear not to know what happens next. I think of these gifted people as ambidextrous, being able to write with both sides of their mind producing seamless works that are cherished for generations. When you ask a genius how they create a story they will usually tell you hours and hours of hard work, tearful days, long nights, and very little sleep. They will also tell you that they aren’t really sure how things come together as beautifully as they do, but that they just keep working at it until they are done.

And that’s the real hope for plot driven and world builder alike. In the writing world you aren’t always born a genius, sometimes through hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, you become one.