Plot-based stories are ones where the narrative premise is what drives the idea. A detective is called to the scene of a crime and needs to solve it. Someone is maligned and seeks revenge. Time travel is invented and things go awry. In genre fiction and Hollywood, this is probably the most common type of storytelling device, where the writer comes up with an interesting idea for the narrative and then fills in the characters and or message they're trying to tell through resolving the plot.


Character-based stories are ones where an intriguing character drives the story. The appeal of films like Nightcrawler and American Beauty and Fight Club as well as books like The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower isn't necessarily what happens in the story as much as it is the journey of the central character or characters, who have a unique or interesting quality to them.


Theme-based stories are ones where the narrative and characters service an overarching message. This is when you start out deciding you want to write a story about revenge, or redemption, or the idea that youth is wasted on the young and then work backwards to come up with a narrative and cast of characters that convey the message. Depending on your skill as a writer, this can result in some very resonant, meaningful work... or it can result in something that's overly preachy.