Insights: Character Driven Storytelling – why it has to be your characters who are driving your story forward
Writing Insights: Character Driven Storytelling – your characters, your protagonists, your antagonists, are the ones who need to drive your story
“The antagonist needs to be a stronger driver of the plot than the protagonist in several ways – to provide a threat and complications for the protagonist, to create conflict and hence create an engaging story with high stakes…” By Ian Kennedy, WriteMovies Director of Worldwide Development.
Individual character motivations are often taken for granted by writers who think they have a well-executed plot – and these scripts are often marked by undistinctive characters who behave predictably (“this is what a hero would do”, “we need her to say this for the sake of the plot”). But it is usually due to the characters’ own drive and commitment to the story that the plot actually involves us and works. Character-driven storytelling is an important part of making a connection with the audience: if it’s not the characters themselves who are driving the story forward at every point, the story feels fake and forced and artificial.