Okay, you've got your plot ready and everything seems to be in order. But one thing is missing: the main character, otherwise called the protagonist of the story. Most of the times, writers make the mistake of putting all the good qualities into their characters, which makes them look and sound fake. Every protagonist needs flaws. Weaknesses and perhaps even strong phobias. Interesting traits and intruding backstories. Let's say I've written a story where a girl named Katie Smith is my main protagonist. She is trying to win an art competition she's been dreaming of for years. Now the author's job is to tell Katie's story. To make it exciting and entertaining, something that people would want to read. But what if I make Katie a kind and caring artist who loves to paint pictures of animals? Let's say she likes sharing her pictures with her grandmother and her grandmother tells her about a local art competition? And then let's say that Katie tries very hard and wins. Happy ending, good plot, nice characters, right?
Wrong.
Katie is too perfect. The most common mistake a writer can make is a character's name. Maybe you're writing a fantasy novel about a kingdom that has fallen, and you have named your main protagonist Jimmy Jones. That would be absolutely ridiculous and you would be a complete laughing stock if any publisher was stupid enough to publish your story. Remember, you are writing a fantasy novel. Jimmy Jones is too common, otherwise it just sounds straight up weird.
Jimmy reached up to grab the sword as the dragon swooped in towards him.
"Jimmy Jones, I have been long awaiting your arrival," the dragon cackled.
"So have I," replied Jimmy, "but I will defeat you!"
See? Would you read a story like that? Jimmy Jones is just like Katie Smith. Their names are just too common, which ruins the entire story, especially if it's a fantasy story and you put Katie Smith in there. But if you change Katie's name to Katrina Thomas, (Kate for short,) and tweak her up a bit here and there, you might end up with a good character. Let's change the plot up a bit and add in our new Kate, shall we? Now let's say Kate wishes to be an artist more than anything, yet she's terrible at drawing She is bullied by everyone at her school and feels like an outcast. One day, she looks to her grandmother for help, since her parents are always extremely busy and often out of town. Her grandmother teaches her to be herself and forget whatever anyone says about her that isn't true. Then one afternoon when Kate is walking to school, she spots a poster of the art competition and decides to enter. Later, she meets a popular girl at her school who is also entering the competition named Larissa Willows. (I'm just making up names as I go, -_-) Larissa and Kate become rivals and one day, Kate realizes her true inspiration can be her own life. She paints a beautiful picture and one of Larissa's friends notices. Then she tells Larissa and Larissa destroys it by stealing it at the competition. Kate loses and despairs, but feels happy that she tried and found her true inspiration.
Better than before, right? Now let's move on to the more exterior side of things. How will your protagonist look? If your writing a realistic contemporary novel about a girl who really wants a dog, you wouldn't give her violet eyes and have her wear a blue tunic with jewels decorated all over it. Your character will be different depending on what genre you plan to write in. But maybe instead you could give your protagonist if this story emerald green eyes and wild, curly red hair. So all you have to do is imagine you are meeting this person in real life and going somewhere. What would you think of your character? If she or he seems to perfect, add a fear or weakness, feel free to add dents and flaws into your protagonist, after all, your protagonist is the story's focus center, you have to make him or her interesting.
But what if… you have an amazing story with a perfect plot structure and everything, but you don't know what kind of character your protagonist will be? A good way to think up a good protagonist if you're stuck is to turn yourself into the protagonist. Give your traits to your protagonist. Maybe you are brave and daring, so make your protagonist brave and daring! Then you'll be able to relate with your protagonist and write better that way.
I hoped you enjoyed my first article and don't forget to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on Twitter too to receive daily writing tips!
- Ashlyn, Aspiring Author of Today
