Character vs. Plot

Isn't it fun when you learn something new about yourself? That sounds so egotistical, but it's true. Over the course of the past couple of months, I've given a great deal of thought to why I buy certain books. What makes me choose one title over another? Why do I have a stack of books that I put off reading, and what makes those books different from the ones that I buy and finish reading within a 48 hour period? Is it my mood? Am I subconsciously looking for something? Is it because I think that I should read it even though I don't want to? Take a look at your bookshelf and do a quick inventory. It's fascinating. My interests are all over the map. My inventory includes: parenting, philosophy, Civil War, mystery, how-to, reference, computer, health, cats, horses, historical fiction, children's poetry, children's fiction, picture books, (yes, I have my own collection separate from my children's) Christian romance, photography, classical literature, poetry collections, and oodles of others. When I fill up a book case, I buy another. Oh wait...I forgot about my coffee table books. I have oodles of hardback picture books on Ireland, Scotland, horses, and places that I visited like the Biltmore and the Greenbriar. I have books on historic places in Virginia and a great historic photo book on Ronald Reagan.

So where am I going with all this? As a writer and a reader, what propels you to buy and read what you do? Because until recently, I always thought I was more character driven. But most of what I buy and what I enjoy reading is more plot driven. If it has a character in whom I relate, I love it all the more. But if it's solely based on character, feelings and dialogue, then I won't get past chapter two. If that character isn't set against an insurmountable problem, I lose interest. This sounds like a no-brainer, but I think it must be an issue because you should see the stack of books that I've tossed aside. So this brings me to point number two. How do we as writers do character sketches without knowing where or how they will fit into a story? Because I've tried sketching, and it's not working.

I get ideas for stories all the time. Sometimes they last, sometimes they don't. The ones that materialize into something, I'll pursue. But until I have my plot, the characters aren't real. I feel like the director of movie. I'm hiring actors based off their looks and personalities, but I don't know where I'm going to cast them. It isn't going anywhere. Is this just me? How do you do a character sketch?

I have a new idea for a story. It's going to demand a lot...no, a ton of research. But it also requires a character that I've not yet explored. So out of all the character sketches that I've stored, none of them will work. The more the plot comes together, the more I'm learning about my character. In other words, I'm finding that until I have my plot, I CAN'T have my character. Is this just me?