I'm going to start jotting down some daily thoughts, about books, life, sports, whatever's on my mind, and I'd love to have you respond to them.
Today's Question:
What do you think is more important...a great story line, or great characters?
Can't wait to hear your answers!
~Anngela
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I think great characters are more important than a great story line. A story line is nothing without great characters. What captures my attention most is the character and everything about them. They make up the whole story with the decisions that they make. A story line will be bland if the characters are bland, but if the characters are very descriptive and entertaining, then they make up the story line themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think great characters are more important in a story because characters bring the story to life! Books create great symbols and analogys, and people can relate most to characters and their attributes. Characters have emotions and descriptions, while story lines are made up of events. For example, the book, "the crucible ' would just be an event in history without the characters unfolding the drama behind the event.
ReplyDelete-hannah engebretsen, period 5
Laura, You make a great point. Does that mean you think the characters need to be more than one dimensional as well?
ReplyDeleteHannah, That in itself was a great analogy about the Crucible! Point well taken.
" What do you think is more important...a great story line, or great characters? "
ReplyDeleteI think a great story line and a great aspect over the characters are both equally important and very much necessary. But with merely the option of having a great story line, or great characters, i'd have to choose great characters. There are several examples of good books, movies, and Tv shows that may have a weak story line but a good character set-up (can't think of any, at the moment). But without good characters in a movie or story, said movie or story would be very bland and uninteresting because readers/viewers pay more attention to characters because they are more visible. Even if someone doesn't understand the story line. Unfortunately i typed too much and can't say much more.
~ John Skinner
No, John. That was great. Thanks for your input. I can see your point, and can think of a few examples that you might not be too familiar with. Thanks for your insight. :)
ReplyDeleteOf course, No problem :)!Also Remind me tomorrow to tell you a few things i can help about your blog. I'm a web designer you see. So i could Help you put one or two things on your blog that you would really love! And also, your music player that you have (project-playlist) it scared the crap out of me when it started playing.. somehow my speakers got turned up to full volume and your music played and freaked me out. :P You may want to (if your interested) make it so it doesn't auto-play. I can help you with that too if you don't know how to do that :D
ReplyDelete~ John Skinner
I Forgot to mention that i wasn't implying that your blog spot site doesn't look good. It looks Great!
ReplyDelete-Just wanted to make sure no one got the wrong idea :D!
~John Skinner
I agree with laura. I think that greater charachters are defiantley better than a great story line. charachters are what make the story appealing. if you have a cool story about an adventure and your charachter is boring and lame it doesnt make the story jump out. characters are the ones who make you laugh and cry and give you the emotion.
ReplyDelete-Katey Santillan :)
Jacob Farrar
ReplyDeleteI think that both are very important but if I had to choose it would be a great storyline. You could have the best acters in the world but with dumb acting it ouldent be a good movie. I think you need a good storyline to keep readers / watchers on the tip of there seats the whole time ans then leave them with a dramatic ending. This I was I think.
Sorry if this response is a little late, I just wanted to say a little something. I think that you cant have one without the other. A great story and terrible characters makes the story less interesting. And if you have the greatest characters and they are all incredibly witty but if they only sit in a tiny room all day, that is no good either. I think people appriciate a great character more, though. Because they are the life of the story. Characters tend to be what people mention more because they act out the storyline. But my point is they are dependant on each ohter but the characters get all the credit.
ReplyDelete-Haley Neal
Well i think that the most important is a great story line because without the story line you dont even have a story. And a GREAT story would most likely make a great story. Great characters are essential none the less, in a story but to begin a story you still would need a story line. And i guess a story line and characters kind of go hand in hand when writing a story, so i am a little undecided, but i still think that a story line is the most important when writing a great story.
ReplyDeleteJoshua Lawler
The characters are what make the story come alive in their personalities and the way they live. Though a story line is used to show the way a character lives, a writer becomes so entrapped in the character they are creating at least from my experience, this creates almost a live example. What I mean by a live example is the writer can establish the characters mind set and personality way more than a story line can. The way the character comes off in the book is so much more influential than the plot itself. Most people think of the plot as say, two people are in love, they have some struggles, they lose loved ones, in the end nothing seems to work out well for them, but they find comfort from family. Though it can have a moral lesson to it the characters are the ones bringing the point across. I could go on for days about this question sorry.
ReplyDeleteGreat characters are much more important then a great story line in my opinion. They aren't that much more important, but I'd say they're the more important of the two. It really does take both to make a great story though. Sure, you might have an amazing story line, but without nifty characters, its not going to make that good of a book. On the other hand, you might have some of the most awesome characters in the world, but if you don't have a great plot, its kind of a waste.
ReplyDeleteAs a wannabe-writer, I have a tendency to favour characters more than a story. Why? Simple, with interesting, three-dimensional characters, the story itself will move along with character dialogue or actions. Take for instance, the antagonist, the literary jerk-wad, without him/her/it, you wouldn't have a conflict. Or a plot. Or not a very good one. You need that character to create havoc so you can have a story. This also applies if the conflict is man vs. self, the character needs to be dynamic enough to cause a conflict. That being said, some of the characters in my head demand I go write and do aca-deca stuff.
ReplyDelete-Camille
I believe that the characters are the ones who create the story line, which are the most important. I think that a great character makes a great plot for the story. Having together strong characters and a surprising story line, can be exiting to the audience. Basically without one another the story would really be awful. Having great personalities the characters stand out and make a better story line, which make the story, more interesting, and catchy.
ReplyDeleteI believe that both great characters and a great story line are important. Without great characters, you cannot have a great story line. If a great story line is not present right away, people will lose interest quickly. If the characters are not dynamic, and they are flat, readers will not find substance in the story. Characters need layers to their personality that can be exposed when time permits throughout the course of the plot.
ReplyDelete-Emily Period 5
I believe good characters are what makes a story great. I think that even if you have an amazing storyline, the story will still fall flat without good characters. In my opinion, the characters are what makes or breaks a story. I believe this because the story would soon lose my interest if it didn't have characters that were strong enough to support it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the story line is more important because without a story line there is no story to begin with. Yes characters are important, but no matter how good the characters are the story is not interesting without a good story line. Some people do not even pay attention to the story line and just fall in love with the characters. However, most people don't read the book if it starts out boring, which means that it does not have a good story line. If someone is expected to hold the book to their face for hours without noticing their surroundings, then it better have a good story line.
ReplyDeleteI think a great charcter is more important than a great storyline. If I can relate to a charecter it makes the book that much better. A charecter brings out the best in a book and is more important to me. Sure a great storyline is great too but a great charecter puts it over the top.
ReplyDeleteJohn Owning