Achieving Balance between Plot and Character and Engaging the Reader

What not to do:

1) Fail to engage the reader

2) Bore them to tears

When writing any kind of book no matter what the genre is, the author needs to be able to engage the reader into the story. This can be done in several ways. One way is to tell a compelling tale. Another way is to create a character or characters that the reader can connect with therefore be interested in what the author is saying.

If an author cannot create a compelling character or situation that makes that connection with the readers then they have failed to convey the concept of their work and therefore the reader has no interest in any of the characters or the plot.

The basics behind every story, non-fiction and fiction, is the Topic. The Topic is what the story is about. If an author writes a non-fiction work about Pearl Harbor then you won’t be expecting to read about the film by that same name starring Ben Affleck.

Each Topic needs Details.

Details are what the Topic is about, i.e., what your book is about.

That means if you write about taking a ride in a hot air balloon you aren’t going to start talking about your friend Mary and how she bakes some totally awesome cookies. (Unless somehow you can work that into the plot. Like you yakked up Mary's great cookies when you looked over the side of the basket as it dangled underneath the hot aid balloon)

Basically, what each and every author needs to do is engage the reader into the story with just enough details to keep them interested and then weave those details into the plot to create a story that the reader wants to finish and begs for more.

To do that, and sadly some authors skip these steps, you need to decide on the Topic (that’s what the book will be about).

Once that step is accomplished, move to the Details which would include character creation, setting, locations, etc.

From Details comes the Outline.

The Outline is how the story will be laid out. The Who, What and Why parts that get filled in from the Details.

Don’t worry about the Outline too much as that leads to the rough draft or what some might call ‘pre-writing’ which really doesn’t fit as that’s the first step you do.

The rough draft is exactly that, rough. It’s where you the author piece all the details together to form what will become the plotline or primary Topic.

Once you finish the rough draft, and there may be several versions of that draft as more details are inserted and character arcs connected to the plot, you move into the First Draft.

The First Draft is not a ready for publication work just like the Rough Draft is not.

However, there are some authors out there, and I will not name names, that insist that their rough draft is the greatest thing since sliced bread and they have no time to edit as what they produced is a work of art. I hate to bust their ego balloon but all authors need the services of an editor.

Skip the steps in the writing process at your own risk.

From the First Draft stage you move to the Second, Third and then Final Draft.
(That’s right sports fans, there are steps that need to be done before you run out and hit publish.)


If any author, no matter if they self-publish or work with a publisher, who does not follow the above steps will fail to engage the reader. The reader is what makes your book sell. If you can’t convey a simple plot idea due to lack of details or create characters that the reader connects with, they won’t give two shits if the plot is totally amazing or if the main character walks in front of a bus.

In most cases, they’ll just stop reading and see if they can get their money back. Don’t be expecting a glowing review or any review for that matter.

Personally, I’d rather hear about reviews where there the readers rave about the work then read about how they couldn’t finish the book because it was boring.

Here’s a big clue about boring. If there is no conflict within the storyline then it is boring. If there is no journey, be it inner or literal that the character or characters take, it’s boring. If there aren’t enough details to put the reader into the locations as described, yep, you guessed it, boring.

Keep in mind, too much or too little detail is also boring. Authors need to walk the balance between overloading on details and not enough detail.

Here’s an example of not enough detail:

Example A:

“I saw zombies in the street, so I shot them.”
Not a whole lot of detail in that sentence.

That same sentence could end up like this:

Example B

“The zombies crossed over the intersection of Central and 4th. That intersection was at one time where the Battle of the Kellogg’s was fought back in 1850. Today, a Burger King and a 7-11 anchor the corners. I raised up my M107 Barrett .50 Special Application Sniper Rifle, looked through the Schmidt and Bender 10x scope, adjusted for the crosswind but clicking twice then looked at the ballistics computer to verify my calculations, wrote down the date and time then engaged the first zombie.”
That is way too much detail.

Is it important to the story to know about the Battle of the Kellogg’s? No. It has no bearing on what the character is doing. Is it important to know about the Burger King or 7-11? Not really unless somehow it can be worked into the paragraph that contains the action sequence.

Was there an actual action sequence? Kind of hard to tell what will all those details cluttering up the paragraph. (Oh yeah, paragraphs, be sure you know what they are and use them).

As you can see from the above two examples, minimalistic detail in example A and way too much detail in example B. Make an effort to walk the fine line between the two or, you guessed it, you will have failed to engage the reader and your book, no matter how much time you spent writing it, proofing it, etc, is boring.

Remember what we talked about, engage the reader in your work, give them a vested interest in what happens. Don’t be boring. Add just enough detail to keep them reading; this is something that takes time and practice to get right. Don’t expect to become an expert at this overnight. Read, read and read some more then write, repeat.

A good book to look into is Plot vs. Character. Most libraries have this book available. It’s a great start to begin to understand how to weave characters into a plot and to tell if your work is character centric or plot centric or if you’ve achieved a balance.