Yes, I am one of those who strongly believe that the success of your story depends upon the way you shape your characters. I guess it’s all about the characters. This thought comes to the fore in a recent interview I had with the well-known Indian Book Reviews. You can catch the interview in full at their website here.
I would love to hear from you. Do you feel, as I do, that in a psychological thriller the characters are as important if not more important than the plot itself?. As I said in the interview you could have a great plot but it would fall through without the support of strong characters.
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 
“Action is character.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
Characters in a book are what drive the book, literally. When I start readin a book that’s fast-paced, but has loosely-hanging characters, I’d rather put it down.
Thanks, Kirsten and Shana. I also think that working on characters needs more skill than working on a plot:)
Hope you don’t mind if I keep rambling 🙂
The thing is, the two can’t be separated.
People think that plot is action, but it’s not. To create an absurd example, you could describe an ant crossing the lawn; it might be beautifully written and have lots of “action” but it’s not plot.
Plot is action plus something a character does — either a reaction or some act of volition (character makes a decision, choice, etc.)
Create a character, plop him down into an imaginary world, and plot happens, because sooner or later the character is going to do something.
As a writer, that’s the point at which I find myself exhilarated, because suddenly things start to happen which I recognize as “natural” within the world of the book, but which I didn’t necessarily plan. I didn’t know, when I started my latest WIP, that one of my main characters was going to end up in Mongolia, but he did — and he deserved it — and it still cracks me up, the way the world he occupies pranked him so beautifully.
Thanks for some very good points.