Friday, December 17, 2010

Book Blogger Hop (December 17-20)

     It's Christmas Break, finally! Oh, how I've missed my long days of sleeping and immediately, upon waking up, curling up with a book. :D I plan to get plenty of reading done before school resumes. Plus, it is the perfect time for lots of hot tea, holiday movies, visiting with friends and family, and generally relaxing.
Book Blogger Hop
Question of the Week:
     What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?
Answer:
     Hey, this is my question! That's super exciting! Thank you Jennifer, for picking my question, and of course for the hop in general.
     I think that the plot is most important at first. You have to be interested enough to learn about the characters. I suppose sometimes books that don't have such wonderful characters can get away with it if the plot is beyond exciting. In my experience, the story doesn't really stick with you though, because there aren't any memorable characters. I can live with a book that isn't very exciting, if the characters are intriguing.
     So, to sum up my rambling, I think characters are the most important. They are what drive the story, and create the plot anyway. Obviously, the best books are the ones with both fabulous characters and an interesting storyline.

     What is your opinion? Are character-driven books better than plot-driven ones (or vice versa)?
   

9 comments:

Stormi said...

Stopping by from the blog hop. You have a nice little blog. :) Hope enjoy your Christmas break.

Unknown said...

Oh me what a question this week.

I really think the characters are important. It makes me want to read the book if I want to know the characters. But a good plot with twists just makes it move along!

I'm launching a new reading challenge that you might be interested in, Morbid Romantica Challenge 2011.

Also today is the start of a Ridley's Giveaway where you can win a Hardcover copy of either Beautiful Creatures or Beautiful Darkness.

Mad Scientist

Steampunkery & Book Reviews

Anonymous said...

Hopping on by. :D

Congrats on having your question chosen. I just suggested one. :D

Ella Bella
http://ellabellareviews.blogspot.com/

Ruth Cox aka abitosunshine said...

Yes, your question, thank you! And thanks for stopping by to see my response.

I agree the characters must drive the plot and I enJOY a book most, I think, when a character comes alive and thus, makes the book a memorable read.

EnJOY your break!

Anonymous said...

Excellent and Hard Question ... I agree with you that the characters are the most important and I prefer character driven books over plot driven books, because of the emotional aspect you have with a well developed character because you empathize with them, which you can never do with a plot.

Sniffly Kitty said...

Hmm... since it was your question, do you think maybe it's a moot point then? If you must have good characters AND good plot to have a good book, why would it make sense to only have one or the other?

Authors should only want to write great books anyway ^.^

Sniffly Kitty
Sniffly Kitty's Mostly Books
New Meme: Third Sentence Thursday!

BLHmistress said...

Hi stopping by to say Happy Holidays and enjoy your break. New follower here.

I say both but that has been changing most of the day lol .

My Follow Friday/Book Blogger Hop

Audrey (holes In My brain) said...

100th follower! congrats :)
I do perfer character-driven plots, but i think at the base, characters are created by the writing so if the writing doesn't work for me, the book wont. your blog is cute, i hope you can stop by mine sometime. have a nice weekend!

Barnard Baker said...

Ladystorm: Thank you, have a nice Holiday as well.
Mad Scientist: I agree. I will definitely take a look at your challenge and contest. :)
Blackest_Night_Reads: Thank you! I'm sure your question was wonderful and will get chosen soon.
Abitosunshine: Of course, and thank you too.
Dragonflyy: You explain it perfectly! There is no way you can empathize with a plot, but the characters are a different matter.
Howard: I'll be sure to visit!
Sniffly Kitty: You are probably right! Regardless, not everything strikes people the same, so I wanted to know which was MOST important. :)
BLH: Both is obviosuly ideal!
Audrey: That's very true, they go hand in hand.