Which came first: the characters or the story?

[Rodel Barnachea]

Sometimes ideas come first in the form of stories and sometimes in the form of characters. I'm working on a stand-alone psychological thriller and the story came to me way before the characters did. However for my fantasy series it was the idea for an antagonist that came first. So I'd say it varies.

I agree with you on the fantasy part. My writing process is to first come up with a well-developed antagonist, then I try to plot the events leading to the first meet of the antagonist and the protagonist. Lastly, I try to make the protagonist as relatable and realistic as possible since readers would most likely be drawn into reading my story if they find the main character to have that quality.

[Rodel Barnachea]

I actually have the same problem (coming up with characters before I have a story). I call it a problem because while I find creating characters to be a very easy process, I struggle with creating a good story in which to place them! It doesn't work very well for me, I'm afraid, but perhaps if I just concentrate on one character at a time, something will finally come together.

I am not a veteran writer, but I think that it's better to have a well-develop character in a simple plot than have unrelatable and one-dimensional characters in complex, intriguing plots.

[human reader]

Sometimes it's a bit of both. For instance, I wanted to write a female character that was part dog but didn't initially plan to include her in my current story. However, as I continued with the plot, she ended up fitting in to the narrative and I think makes it more interesting.

[Nedim]

I think that no character exists without a story. Crafting the story is very more important than looking for the characters. If there are no stories, there won't be a need for characters. Hence, the story is first before the characters.

[Nedim]

What if you get the characters and don't come up with any story they can fit into? I guess that would be a total waste of time. Hence, the story must go first before trying to find the characters that will make up the story.