Story vs Character

[Damage]

Ahhh the writing section. I used to frequent here but then real life called. I'm back because I have a question for both writers and readers out there. I've been working with a small film group for a while and my writing has been praised for good character growth, world building and dialogue that keeps everything faithful to what the viewer perceives from each moving part however my story is generally... pretty bad. I can't lie , it usually isn't my focus to make the story good. This stems from my belief that every story has been told but every character type has not lived in each story that exists. (I admit this may be a lazy excuse to forgo certain writing improvement) However I want to know as I try to work on story building which is the most important? Are you like me with the sentiment that if you care about the people on the journey that the journey itself doesn't matter or do you believe that a solid focus on both aspects make for a better story regardless. Or is the journey important as you impose yourself in the character's shoes? Or I'll let the title dictate the question. Story or character? WHO WON? YOU DECIDE! EPIC RAP-sorry I've had a few tonight. Story or characters and why if you'd be so kind.

[Felicity]

It's all up in the air. You can have stories with a small handful of characters with very little exposure to the audience, see your typical ghost story isolated in X spooky place, that doesn't even have much happen. Instead it focuses on atmosphere. Or you can have slice of life that's just... not much happening. Just a cast of likable people doing things in their daily lives.

 

I personally value a sense of progression within stories. You can throw as many characters as you like at me and I might get attached, depends on the individual character, whereas I'm almost guaranteed to dislike a slow pace where nothing really happens or something of note does happen but it's a small thing that didn't warrant x amount of time being spent on it. This in turn reflects whenever I write, I tend not to linger on a scene. Sometimes that fucks me over, something to catch in the editing process.

[Damage]

I guess its hard to narrow down when to focus on character vs story and usually helps to have additional eyes. My usual focus on character means the story isn't always as fleshed out and that hurts my writing a bit. I'm trying to write with fewer characters than I used to in order to have a better balance and I think its helping me focus on whats important when there isn't too many characters involved.

[Arkiel]

i usually stay for the characters more than the story, i cant stand bad characters but i dont think that all the stories have been already told, and if the story is also good it add A LOT maybe you lack on a reason that inspire your story? like dystopia (old dystopia books not the mainstream actuals) born from a real fear that the society will become like that (sorry if no make sence but is hard to explain on english ;u;) but if you want to be comercial, the plain characters sell more xD

everything depend on your target