What is more important: The Characters or The Plot?

Well, it depends if the characters ARE the plot, or whether they're there to convey the idea behind the plot. It depends on the story, why it's being written, what methods you're using, etc. Writing is an artform, it's subjective...so that's all I can really say; it depends. For me? For me the characters tend to be the plot. I tie everything up together, so that it's all important, without me being too terribly serious about it -- writing to me, is only fun if I play with serious, normally dark things. If it's not all tied up, if it's not all important, then I'd lose interest.

For me they are equally important .The characters are important they need to be interesting and have some part of them people can relate to . But also the plot needs to be good . For ex when I read books I have came to this problem :these are nice characters I love them but I can't read on because the plot isn't good or boring .Or the plot is wonderful but I can't relate to the chars . so also then I wont read on .When I write I try to keep a good balance.

It is the plot that is all important. The only way that the character is more important is if it is the character trying to find himself or has a goal in which he changes from a selfish cad to a generous person. For most novels, the plot matters the most and then you start looking for the best character who would be the protagonist and usually you have to look at his occupation, education, and skills to make sure that he or she will survive at the end of the story. \

both. u need a good story as well as interesting character that are in the story for a reason to help u tell the story better. i need to rewrite my script for my graphic novel because i dont know how to write a script. i dont know what i am doing. but i self published my novel on lulu.com and i made sure that there was a plot and it move toward the end for a reason, and all the characters that came in contact with the main character were there for a reason.

This question is like asking, what's the most important part in the bird, the left wing or the right wing? I believe that both are important elements in writing a story. A good plot is useless without a good character. Who would be acting out your plot if you have not developed your characters. A good character is equally useless if the plot is not interesting. Even if your characters are the best in town, if it's not carried out in a good plot, its as uninteresting.

As a reader reading "Gone with the Wind", it's very hard to say whether the plot or characters are more important. Scarlett, Melanie and Rhett are definitely unforgettable characters. But what makes the book so remarkable to me is not just the plot or characters. It's the feelings that good old days are gone forever and will never be here again (as in life before the civil war, the love that Scarlett never treasure and lost it forever). So I think the story must have a soul in it, must have a kind of bitter after-taste to it.

The plot is going to make the story roll or stop. If the plot sucks even a great character is not going to bring the reader back to the next book, or even the next chapter. However on the flip side, the plot can be realy intense but lousy character development can loose a reader also. Though I have read books with less than stellar characters just beacuse the story line was good. It is a fine balance though, and it is the combination of both that creates what I call the hook value. That being the "hook" that keeps the reader from putting the book down even when they really should be doing other things. From independant read tests I conducted, one reader who worked for the courts had actually got so into the book that he took it to work and was hiding in an obscure part of the building for more than two hours reading while he was suposedly doing some case research. When he filled out the review form, his fav part of the story was in fact the story line.

I agree with you; the characters are more important. I like reading a book or story where I can identify with a character. I like seeing characters has fallible humands. Because no matter what happens to them, I feel like they are friends. And I can forgive them if their lives are not that interesting. :)