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Editing Rant: Systemic Bias in Reading and Buying Books

Erin Penn

Photo by Michael Newton on Unsplash

“I’m not racist in my reading. I don’t even look at the author when I buy books (at the bookstore) / (online).”

Doesn’t matter, the system is racist. Even if you are not racist, the existing system is based on problematic structures.

Did you know that black romance is in a separate section from “contemporary romance” in most book stores? I find it in a completely different section, if the population is large enough near the bookstore to “justify” having a “black reader” section.

Did you know that the books facing cover out are best sellers, or paid to be facing out by the publisher to the bookstore owner since it costs more money to be in that position, and the publishers only pay for books they think will be best sellers? The outward facing books are more likely to picked them up, and therefore becoming the expected best seller.

And publishers, and bookstores, base the predicted best sellers, even in the  fantasy and sci-fi on historic sales – so if history of the genre is white male, guess what is cover side up for eye catching – making it a best seller, and making the next books also be white male – the SYSTEM is set up this way.

“But I get my books for the library.”

I went looking in the library for a person-of-color in the science fiction / fantasy audio section for a long drive. I found three books total: two black and one Hebrew out of four double-sided shelving units of audio books. Why? Because libraries buy what is asked for by their patrons, and their patrons ask for best sellers that have buzz- and, well, best sellers are best sellers because … see above SYSTEM that keeps history in place.

The system needs changing even if you don’t, and to do that, well, you need to change how you interact with the system.

You will need to ACTIVELY work on choosing books that are BIPoC (Black, Indigenous/Immigrant, People of Color). Same with Queer. Same with Women. Look again at that picture I have for this Editing Rant. How many are male and how many are female? Are any of them BIPoC or Queer?

I did a full youtube series on how the publishing industry is systemically limiting new authors based on the historical structure.

 

Writing Exercise: Plot-Driven or Character-Driven story?

Erin Penn

Photo by Lucas Kepner on Unsplash

This year I started using Storygraph as well as Goodreads for book reviews.

You can find me at Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4918831.Erin_Penn

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/erin_penn

One of the questions Storygraph always ask is “is this book character-driven or plot-driven?” with an option of “it’s complicated” and “N/A” (the not-applicable is useful for non-fiction reads). And while I’ve been answering the question, each time I see it, I think, what is the EXACT definitions of each. Well, Webster isn’t going to come to the rescue on this one.

DEFINE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STORY AND PLOT

A “story” is a sequence of events that are linked together in a meaningful way to create a narrative. … A story may include characters, settings, themes, conflicts, and emotions. (McGregor)

A plot isn’t much different, referring to the specific sequence of events. Plot is how the author reveals the narrative – sometimes as a straight line, sometimes involving twists and turns.

We all have had friends tell a story, but lose the plot in the telling. There is a structure to a plot, which a story might lack. Plot is a map, how to get from here to there, with side quests, backups, and a dozen other elements to move “the story forward and create tension, conflict, and resolution.” (McGregor)

CHARACTERS

Characters are also part of the story. Several aspects of character consideration were covered in last month’s writing exercise, “Main Character, Protaganoist, Narrator, Hero, Oh My Murderbot.” We talk a lot about characters and the importance of making them real through the story’s dialog and narrative in this blog.

CHARACTER-DRIVEN VS. PLOT-DRIVEN

So what is the difference between a character-driven story or a plot-driven story. That is simple: with character-driven, the story is centered on the character and is driven forward by the INTERNAL CHOICES of the character; and with plot-driven, the story is driven forward by the EXTERNAL EVENTS of the world until a Goal is reached. Clear?

Clear as mud. Obviously character-driven will focus more on characters, while plot-driven will focus more on plot. And since nearly every fictional story out there has both characters and a plot, there will be a mix of both “drives” within the writing. But how does this impact writing?

That is the real question isn’t it, “How does this impact writing?” How can I use this to make MY WRITING better?

Let’s do a deeper dive into each.

CHARACTER-DRIVEN

Genre writing leans into plot and literary writing leans into character. A story will lean more one way or the other, but character-driven leans into the “internal” conflict of the character, exploring motives, personality, thoughts, and relationships. Internal development and transformation (or no transformation despite everything the world throws at them) are key aspects to a character-driven story.

Everyone talks about CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT; this is essential to a character-driven story. Golden storylines include when the character’s internal goals are in conflict with each other.

In Exit Strategy (Murderbot book 4) by Martha Wells, SecUnit thinks, “The last thing I wanted was to ask the company gunship for help. The last thing I wanted was for GrayCris to catch us. These two last things are incompatible.” This is the perfect example of internal goals in conflict with each other. By the way, the Murderbot SERIES is character-driven, but the storylines of the individual BOOKS are plot-driven. We see SecUnit grow and change over the length of the series, developing personality and relationships, but within each book, events are pushing it forward to an end-goal.

If you want to create a more character-driven story, make the beginning about the protagonist – you might need to go light on the plot for the first little bit. Throughout the book, lots of character description is essential. Don’t just fix “white rooms,” giving the story a setting. Describe the people, how they dress and move, how they think about each other. What are their wants, needs, and goals?

The story itself should be built around the character. If you put a different character in the story, it would be a different story. And it’s not like changing out a marine for a civilian-type change, it THIS MARINE – HIM! that the story is built around. The hayseed from Ohio who dreamed of being an astronaut and studied the skies each night and memorized sky charts, he is essential to getting his unit back to Earth after aliens kidnap them out of the desert. Internally, he struggles to point them home because this will be his only chance to be out here. Without him, the story would be completely different.

And it is not just the protagonist in a character-driven story who is layered, nearly every character has a BACKSTORY. People are complex and nuanced. Each changing as they interact with the others.

Readers finish the story because they want to know what happens to the characters. This will happen despite there often being no clear end-point to the story. Internal changes do not wrap up in neat bows. Thought-provoking choices drive the character; conflict is changed by the character decisions.

PLOT-DRIVEN

At the other end of the question, genre-commercial writing is plot-driven. Clearest are thrillers and mysteries, but also horror, action-adventure, fantasy, science-fiction, and westerns. You would think Romances would be character-driven, but like most of the fantasy-leaning genres, they are plot-driven.

External conflict is the key to the plot. The world impact on the characters and they must interact with it. Starting the book with the action already happening is very popular with plot-driven stories. Where character-driven stories, we first meet the characters; with plot-driven, we first meet the plot and it may be some time before things slow down enough for us to learn the protagonist’s name and motives (if they ever slow down).

Twists happen in the series-of-events, changing the character’s goals, moving them from one scene to another. They enter the scene going in one direction, but need to go in a different direction when leaving. Characters are devices used to advance the plot.

The tricky thing with a plot-driven story is to make sure the character has agency; with the world shoving them around willy-nilly, how can the character show they are making their own choices? This is where a writer borrows tools from a character-driven story to keep agency with the character.

Serial-style stories are always plot-driven. Mysteries where the main character solves a murder each time and the series books can be read in any order (mostly), these are plot-driven. No character-development means not character-driven. Yes, Mrs. Polifax and Miss Marple do change over their long series, somewhat, and their characters are what makes the story interesting, but the PLOT – the murder mystery or political action thriller – is what is driving the story. James Bond is just the car getting the story down the road.

A story-arc series, duology, trilogy, or longer, can also be plot-driven, but the character reset at the start of each book is a CLEAR indication of a plot-driven story. Some of the vlogs and blogs I read preparing this post called these “static characters.” The Simpsons television show is an excellent example of characters always returning to a “null state” despite everything impacting their lives – an alien invasion happens in one story leaving not a single building standing, even Moe’s bar is demolished, and in the next episode, Springfield is back to normal.

An external Goal being reached is another hallmark of a plot-driven story. The reader finishes this type of story to see what happens. The endpoint is usually clearly marked. Here is where the Romance is defined as plot-driven. The plot is to fall-in-love; a happily ever after must be delivered to the reader. Sometimes the characters make choices that just don’t make sense in service to the plot; as a writer, you want to avoid this, but with a plot-driven story it is easier to tell yourself, “They have to make this choice for us to get to the end.”  If that happens, as a good writer, you need to go back and add something to the backstory, seeding things to help explain the forced choice.

Fables and other stories with morals are also plot-driven. The goal is to share an EXTERNAL lesson on how the world works, not how the internal thoughts of a person or animal adjusted because of the narrative.

In a character-driven story, changing out the protagonist for someone else will cause the story to disintegrate, but any plot might actually result with the same character development. Going to work or going to the moon doesn’t matter, the thought changes while traveling is the important part of the narrative. With the plot-driven story, you might substitute out a different Marine, or Elf, or shopper in a grocery story and have no change in the story. On one hand, the linchpin holding everything together is the character and in the other, it is the plot.

The previous example of Ohio-Marine, as a character-driven story, the narrative actually focused on the choice whether to return home or explore space. The conflict was internal. If plot-driven, the story would have been about overcoming the aliens and figuring out the equipment; external factors to overcome. The goal of going home was never really in question. Any Marine or even a grocery shopper could be the protagonist. The trip to get to the end might be slightly different, but the end goal is still the same. The structure of the narrative remains unchanged.

When initially writing the story, authors often think of either a plot element or a character first. This will lean a story more to being character-driven or plot-driven. Was the plot built to fit the characters strengths and weaknesses, or did the plot create the character with flaws and assets tailor-made to resolve the conflict and challenges of the stories?

HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCES

As an editor, I need to figure if a story is plot-driven or character-driven. For my particular publisher, we are action-oriented. We love starting “in medias res” with someone running and shooting. And while we say we want interesting characters, and we do, at the end of the day we are a plot-driven genre publisher.

So how can I help writers to shape their story to be even more “plot-driven” without leaving eccentric characters by the wayside. First look at what is introduced first: Plot or Main Character? Second, is the story about “why is something happening” (choices made) or “what is happening “(actions taken)? Third, chip, shape, and polish as needed.

MAKE SURE BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTS ARE DEVELOPED

Remember to develop both characters or plot, although one will have more impact on the narrative than the other.

One of the ways to do this is when outlining, outline all the plot points and along-side the plot points mark any internal changes the character has. Another way is be sure the character has AGENCY against the plot, while also making sure some of the world is outside the character’s control and they have to react to this EXTERNAL impact on their life.

Internal and external / thoughts and action / all control and no control. Find the balance between each of these which best serves the story you are trying to tell.

LOVE WORLDBUILDING

While reading other people articles on character-driven vs. plot-driven, most were of the opinion world-building, when mentioned at all in relation to this topic, is part of the plot. This opinion reduces the fantastic and amazing aspects of fantasy and science-fiction, removing them from consideration in a character-driven plot.

I consider the world not just a setting, but another character impacting and interacting with the characters. And as a character, you just don’t drop world’s backstory in one infodump anymore than you would the love interest of the protagonist. Be sure to enhance the world with purpose; what are the goals of the culture, the flaws of the society, the strength of its nature.

WRITER EXERCISE

Which way to you lean when writing? What tools can you take from plot-driven stories and character-driven stories to make your present work-in-progress (WIP) better? Comment below about two aspects of your WIP that are character-driven and two aspects of the story that are plot-driven?

READING EXERCISE

What stories to you read and enjoy the most? While you might say you read stories for characters, would you say those stories are plot-driven or character-driven primarily? Taking your present read-in-progress, can you break out the parts that make it a plot-driven narrative and the parts that make it a character-driven narrative? Write about what you discover in the comment below.

 

Bibliography

Emmons, Abbie. “Plot Driven vs. Character Driven Stories.” YouTube. 2020 (says five years ago). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k68tf-Nut2I – last viewed 8/10/2025. – Note: This vlogger is completely character-driven focused; does not believe plot-driven stories have value. I watched it as part of the research, and I think the vlogger might have some good insights into character creation, given personal preferences, but grains of salt are needed with this one – like BIG grains.

McGregor, Lewis. “Character vs. Plot-Driven: Know the Difference.” IndieTips. 2023 February 23. https://indietips.com/character-driven-vs-plot-driven/ – last viewed 8/10/2025.

Pen and Sword. “Plot Driven VS Character Driven Stories.” YouTube. 2016 (says nine years ago). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp6ARuDzw8o – last viewed 8/10/2025.

Reedsy. “Character vs. Plot-Driven Stories.” YouTube. 2021 (says four years ago). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqspVy5zIxo – last viewed 8/10/2025.

Writing Mastery. “Plot-Driven vs. Character-Driven stories: What’s the Difference?” 2023 January 12. https://www.writingmastery.com/blog/plot-driven-versus-character-driven-what-s-the-difference – last viewed 8/10/2025.

Book Review: The Weight of Command

Erin Penn

Amazon Cover

The Weight of Command by Michael Mammay

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON

Lieutenant Kiera Markov is a scout platoon leader for a peacekeeping force on the remote planet of Tanara, where little has happened for decades, and the only mission is to keep the lithium flowing up the space elevator to feed the galaxy’s incessant demand. But when an unprecedented attack kills the entirety of the brigade’s leadership, the untested lieutenant suddenly finds herself in command.

Isolated and alone, Markov must contend with rival politicians on both sides of the border, all of whom have suspect motives and reason to take advantage of an untested leader, while an unseen enemy seeks to drive the two sides toward a war that Markov has a mission to prevent. It’s enough to test even a seasoned leader.

Markov isn’t that.

With challenges from all sides, and even from her own troops, Markov will have to learn quickly and establish her authority. Because what hangs in the balance is not only the future of the peacekeeping force, but of the planet itself.

 

MY REVIEW

What happens when a lowly lieutenant finds herself the highest ranking officer on planet? And unlike some “any-man” armies, in this science-fiction world, officers come wired for bear. They are the only ones who are completely wired to connect to the command network. A master sergeant can’t step up to the plate without several surgeries and nearly a year of specialized training.

After the chain of command is snipped to its last link, the lieutenant has to figure out how to operate a division instead of a platoon, deal with escalating tensions between two powers on the planet while obeying the peace-keeping directive, and connect back to her command-structure after all space-communication goes down. She is fortunate to have amazing non-coms at her side.

The constant escalation of tension, changing of stakes, and juggling of external political & internal military command balls brings the full Weight of Command to Kiera’s shoulders in this pulse-pounding can’t-put-it-down book.

(Originally created as an audio-book exclusive – now available in kindle and print formats.)

Arts: Embroidery – Blue Cross-Stitch Pieces Continued

Erin Penn

TIMELINE: August 3 – 28, 2025

August 3, 2025 – I decided to clear out the blue cross-stitch projects as part of my clearing out of the stash. I have five pillowcases and four dresser scarfs (one of which I finished and can be found under the July 29, 2025 post: Embroidery – Cross-stitch Dresser Scarf).

The pillowcases only have embroidery along one side, rather than four, so I decided to start with those first. I will be taking pictures every three days.

First picture is the cover photo. Second picture is the chart, the four inch embroidery hoop (it needs to be that small to maneuver inside the pillowcase), and a picture of the DMC thread 809 (light blue) and 798 (dark blue). The cross-stitch is worked with three threads and the additional stitches will be worked with 2 threads. Third picture is the design printed on the fabric. It is about 13 inches long and 6 inches wide. The ink will disappear if water hits it. I don’t know how these have survived all these years. I believe I picked them up at A.C. Moore (which closed in 2019).

         

A picture of four of the pillowcases and all the materials together.

8/5/2025 (total time spent about six hours) – Third day of project. Sewed the normal one hour on 8/3. On 8/4, I took a little extra time (about 1 and a half hours total) to complete the dark blue stitches on the first pillowcase because I had a phone meeting the next night and if I got that done I could do the embroidery during the meeting because I would not need to pay attention to the chart. 8/5 Over two hours and a half hours of phone meeting, I got a LOT of the light blue done and then I started the pillowcase’s dark blue. I got three more meetings this month, and if I get all the pillowcases prepped with the dark blue cross-stitches at night when I can pay attention to the chart, then I can knock out the light blue during the meetings. The dark blue on the second pillowcase is from one hour of work after the meeting was complete.

     

8/6-8/11/2025 (total time spent about six hours – 16 overall) – 8/8/2025 The first picture captures the work completed 8/6-8/8 (one hour a night, about). Yes, that is a fifth pillowcase. Guess what I found while cleaning stash? That is right another one. Makes me wonder if I got yet another one for a total of three pair, or if I just have five pillowcases. 8/11/2025 (two pictures) Just a little bit of the final pillowcase left to complete. Then I will work on the LIGHT blue leaf patterns. There are five on each pillowcase. Once that is done, all the things left to do will not need the pattern for reference – all the cross-stitch will be light blue and all the rest (stem, leaf, and satin) will be two-thread dark blue.

           

8/14/2025 (total time spent about three hours – 19 overall) – 8/14/2025 Three days, about an hour each, of sewing, completed the dark-blue 3-strand cross-stitching as well as the two-strand light blue stitch of leaves. The first picture is the overall shot. The second picture is just the dark blue cross-stitch and the light blue leaf stitch. Final picture is what a pillowcase looks like with the light blue cross-stitch complete. Getting close to having one done!

         

8/17/2025 (total time spent about three hours – 22 overall) – 8/17/2025 Three days, about an hour each, of sewing, and one of the pillowcases is complete. How I approached this to start was first get two of the pillowcases light-blue cross-stitch knocked out. Now what I am trying to do is work on the more detailed dark blue two-strand stitches (stem, leaf, and satin) in the quiet by myself at night, and work on the light blue during meetings. This upcoming week I got four meetings, so I hope to knock out the rest of the light blue cross-stitch there. First picture is all five pillowcases. Second picture is what a completed pillowcase looks like – yes! one is complete!

8/21-27/2025 (total time spent about twenty hours – 42 overall) – Meeting week. Like, lots of meetings. 8/21/2025 First Picture is a four-day mark. I had a meeting each of those four days where I worked on the project for a little over an hour each time, plus the normal evening work. Total hours is more like ten between all sources. Two of the pillowcases are now completely done. 8/24/2025 Second picture is back to the normal three-day cycle, but two very long meetings this time of about two hours each, so seven hours worked. I also did more stash clean and found a SIXTH!!! pillowcase. In the picture, on the left side is one folded and one displayed completed pillowcases. Then on the right side are two completed cases on the bottom (the original four I started with project with are now complete); I have completed the light blue on the third case and am working on the light blue on the fourth case. I believe I will finish this project this week. Just need to do the embroidery, then a wash to remove the preprinted design. 8/27/2025 Third picture. Another three-day cycle of just three hours. Five pillowcases complete, only finishing dark-blue lines on the sixth pillowcase. Almost there. It has been a month.

          

8/28/2025 (two hours, including hand wash – 44 hours overall) – Last of the embroidery is completed!!! First picture is a round of handwashing all six pillowcases to get rid of the pre-printed design. Second picture is what the underside looks like. Third picture is everything complete.

            

DONE DONE DONE – One of the pillowcases with a pillow

Blue Cross-Stitch Pieces Series
Blog 1: Cross-stitch Dresser Scarf (7/29/2025)
Blog 2: Blue Cross-Stitch Pieces Continued (8/31/2025)
Blog 3: Cross-stitch Dresser Scarfs – The Sequel (TBD)

Other Cool Blogs: Sky and Telescope

Erin Penn

3i/ATLAS is hurdling our way, the third confirmed and recorded interstellar object, believed to have come from much closer to the Milky Way core on its way out to the infinite.

David L. Chandler on July 28, 2025 did an article for Sky & Telescope “Interstellar Comet 3i/ATLAS: What We Know Now”. Lots of cool details about this fleet-footed visitor. What I enjoyed most about the article is the section on “Capturing the Comet at Perihelion”. Timing is crucial to see Comet 3i/ATLAS closest approach to the sun, and for Earth observation, it’s not happening. We will be on the other side of the sun. But because we have machines scattered throughout the system, there is a chance for the satellites we have around Mars and Jupiter to see what happens when this unique comet is at its warmest. It will take some finagling and cooperation. What sends me Geeking is we have OPTIONS, even when Earth isn’t in the right spot. This is what science does. It gives so many options.

If Sky & Telescope publishes stuff that is your jam, you might want to go over to that Other Cool Blog, read up on 3i/ATLAS and other astronomy news. – full URL: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-what-we-know-now/