Character or Plot: What's your strength?

Which are you better at: creating characters or plot?

characters	48.0%	[ 61 ]
plot	12.6%	[ 16 ]
I rock at both	11.8%	[ 15 ]
about the same	14.2%	[ 18 ]
I suck at both	8.7%	[ 11 ]
just gimme goldz!	4.7%	[ 6 ]
Total Votes:			[ 127 ]

This poll closed on December 1, 2012.
No longer accepting new votes.

[Vyce Kuro]

Are you better at creating well developed characters or a well thought out plot? Do your characters tend to come from your plot, or does your plot evolve from your characters' personalities, situations, setting, etc?

I am better at creating characters, and my plots usually come from conflicting personalites or character goals. That said, I admire authors who can craft well-developed, hard to predict plots.

[WindWolf94]

I'm definatly better at characters, i only have one plot point so far that dosen't stem from my characters being messed up and lacking communication, and thats the main conflict.

[E is for Enigma]

I am extremely plot-driven. I have friends who make the most brilliant, complex, believable characters and am totally envious. But the work I've done on my plots is pretty awesome. Just gotta work harder on the other stuff.

[Chai Senpai]

I have an easier time with characters, mostly because I like to really try and get into their heads and see how ******** up I can make them. emotion_dowant

[Maelstream]

I'm alright at both....I make a plot, then create characters, making them fit in with that plot....

[On Your Six]

It depends, I can go either way. Some stories the plot is amazing, but the character in it really doesn't matter; I could change every feature about the character and it's insignificant. So that doesn't make it a very memorable character.

But then there are some stories where the character is a lovely, complex, beautiful work of art....and I can get them to do absolutely nothing. emotion_drool

[MadLover2012]

Well I create the characters, and depending on their characteristics, I give them a certain job in the plot, so I'm pretty good at both... xp

[Endrael]

All plot relies on your characters (and if you're not treating your antagonists (if you have any) like characters who need to be just as developed and motivated as your protagonists, you're doing something wrong). The only exception is man-vs-nature, and even that's only half exempt. Think of it in terms of power dynamics and you'll find a lot of sticking points with plotting will disappear.

[Mayor Gravity]

I'm good at both.

[Dreylen]

War leaves its trail,
In moonlight so pale...

I'm pretty damn good at creating a deep, believable character (I've got about six right now that I've been exploring), though the plot goes a bit slowly because I'm almost always doing flashbacks to explore the bonds between these characters.

...Its shadows, they flow,
In rivers, in rivers...

[infect]

I really want to say both, but the norm for me is to excel more on one depending on the story. Sometimes characters are great, sometimes it's the plot that really stands out.

[taxidermy jesus]

Characters, most definitely. They have an unfortunate tendency to take on a life of their own, making difficult it to direct them towards any one particular plot point.

[Le Scratch]

Mix of both from what I've observed of myself. This is my first time writing a fictional story however, so I might be wrong.

[himelia]

Definitely stronger in Character Development.

I love creating character's and I find myself pondering for weeks upon months to even come close to developing a solid plot that can fit all my characters into a common thread.