by Carol Brennan King October 14, 2023     I know, I know. This is inexcusable, such a long time between posts.  But if you came to my house, I would show you stacks of notes from classes I have been taking. And then there is all the research (about writing and publishing, of course) that has piled up on my desk daily. I did sort it, and today am going to share something really important.              

But let’s start with a freebie from one of my favorite writing resources: Ronnie L. Smith, President of Writer’s Relief WritersRelief@wrelief.com We all have those moments when we want to write, but our creativity bone is just stuck. WritersRelief has come to your rescue with these great prompts. So check them out later.

Now on to the work: Let’s talk about your main character or your protagonist. If you can get that person down, your book will practically write itself. And I mean get that person down on paper you can find, so you write consistently and know what could happen based on your character.

So what do you know about this VIP or very important person on whom your story depends. I know, you know all about them, but do you? Or does it all slide around, all those indispensible facts that will eventually drive your story?

Twenty-some years ago, I taught my students to think through their main character or protagonist. To write this story about them, you need to really KNOW them, everything. And I told them to get it all down in a file somewhere. And students are still being taught this.

1. What do they they want?
2. What do they fear?
3. What do they look like? and what do they like and dislike about what they look like?
4. What do they sound like? Think accent, Primary language. Assertiveness or are they shy?
5. Where did they grow up, go to school, college, and where did they work and do work?.
6. What do they really want to do for work, for play, for relaxation?
7. And think through what their birth family and current families look like.

When the fragments or ideas of a story start percolating in your mind, the temptation is great to just start writing the story down. You have a protagonist or leading or main character, and you know something happens to him or her. You can see it. Maybe you can even see the background or smell the scene. As a writer, remember all of your senses are important.

But after a few pages or even chapters, you wind down and don’t know who or what happens next or even have any idea of what could happen.

This is where that notebook or file filled with just who this character is comes in. I told my students to see their character in their mind, and then start filling in all of those categories and more. Maybe you are writing about someone who lives at a different time or in a different world than you do. Map it out, that world, so you know what could possibly happen there.

Now, do you know what he or she does look like? Start with the hair color, style, condition (thin, thick, straggly. Look at it in your mind and write it down. Many times serious judgments are made out of hair color or style. Consider what your other characters might think if this person is bald, has white (unnaturally so) hair, long, untamed hair—just think of the possibilities because every one of them may make a difference in how the person can be expected to treat others or be treated personally.

AND the hair color, etc. is part of the persona, even if it is perfectly traditional. If the hair doesn’t catch your eye, look at the face: attractive, well or not well made-up. Skin color as it reflects ethnicity…and maybe supports the hair style so a person begins to emerge.

Is the person healthy, handicapped – how?

How are they dressed right now? Because they may change their appearance later. And why are they dressed like that?

Education? Current job and/or job history? Hobbies or interests? Family history – childhood or children?

NOW, what can you do with that? How can you mine it for ideas of what could happen to the character?Consider what resources the character has to deal with new trauma. Is the character a loner? A team player?

Now in your notebook or file or whiteboard, consider what could occur in this person’s life: suspicion of being betrayed, a job loss, their house robbed, best friend starts acting strange, loss of somoone they love. Make your list.

Go back to who they are, what could create conflict for them, and sort through what their response might be out of who they are.

Go to a book or story you love. Who is the protagonist or main character? Who is the antagonist…or who messes up your protagonist’s life? Note how the author allowed the story to develop out of who the characters are.

My husband and I play this game. About three or four minutes or a bit longer into a TV show we are watching, we start figuring out who the central characters are, on either side, and who will be the really bad guy. We watch a lot of well-written British or European television. Those writers set up a pile of possibilities forcing you as the viewer to think through each character and how they relate to your protagonist.

MY POINT TODAY is this: the better you know your characters, the quicker you will be able to build your story. You know who is actually capable of what long before your reader does, but when it is all unraveled, they will say, “I may have not seen that coming, but it makes sense now.”

Save yourself a lot of time developing your story by knowing everything you can about your key characters before you set them on the stage and watch what they do to and with each other. And don’t rely on your memory. More than one writer has given a character two or three birthdates unintentionally.

Now for other resources:

1. Tim Grahl has a great youtube presentation. Go there first and remember, I have been teaching something close to this for over 20 years, so I didn’t steal it. Nor did he. And he talks about far more than I have presented here. 7 Steps to Write the Perfect Protagonist – YouTube

2. This resource/post is about using the protagonist as a literary device in particular. Check out Five Important Things to Remember About Protagonists by c licking on the title.

The Protagonist As A Literary Device

So there we are! This really is worth your time even if you think you do the protagonist thing well already.

Try it with a short story, and you could email it to me if you want to share.