Damon Nomad's Writer's Zone

Everyone is mostly correct, and thanks for carrying the pail for me Amethyst Snow Angel . You are indeed a good Padawan.

It is not complicated. Take a moment to think about your favorite stories. If I asked you to describe one... do you start with, "It's about good winning the day over, bad guys, or do you start with it's about this girl (or guy) that needs this or that...she learns this and that.... discovering she can do this or that...." Until, in the end, she reaches El Dorado. And when she discovers that her car can't carry more than a thousand pounds… we have the sequel.

We never start our description of the story explaining the plot. We always start with tales about the protagonist...

The plot is the car, truck, train, or plane that carries the story... the characters drive or pilot the vehicles. We read the story to the end only if we are interested in our character's ability to drive.

We often lose interest if granny's moving at 25 MPH down an empty road as we watch the scenery outside the window, scrolling with smooth, steady ease. It doesn't matter how shiny her antique car is... We fall asleep! Or get mad and lay on the horn, whip out around her, leaving her old Studebaker to fade in the rearview, never to be seen again.

However, let Granny discover she needs an urgent stop at a rest area and let the traffic stuff up her path... While these are all common things. But discovering Granny's last gas station burrito is supplying a sudden bout of explosive diarrhea… well, now! There is intrigue. Watching our protagonist stomp the gas… makes our juices and interests start pumping... when she whips the car up on two wheels and jumps the curb... well, that's when we start paying attention. It's not about granny needing a John. It's if, what, or how she finds one, and maybe we worry about timing, too; these things make us read her story.

Yes, the style of writing changes a bit depending on the genre. But I am willing to bet that you have never read a book where you are ambivalent toward the characters.

(There are always exceptions. School reading assignments don't count. Although most of us didn't read the books, we bought the cliff notes)

I don't care how original, exciting, or wild the plot curve may be. The story dies in the parking lot if your characters can't drive.