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A '''passive protagonist''' will kill a story. They will sit and watch the plot unfold but won't contribute to it. Characters will fall in love with them because the plot deems it so, instead of the protagonist affecting it. A reader will not feel this character is deserving of anything.
 
A '''passive protagonist''' will kill a story. They will sit and watch the plot unfold but won't contribute to it. Characters will fall in love with them because the plot deems it so, instead of the protagonist affecting it. A reader will not feel this character is deserving of anything.
   
'''Coincidence''' can create a passive protagonist if they don't react to it in a forward way. It creates a "victim" protagonist. Lets say a house it blown down by a tornado—the protagonist should have a goal to fix it up or do something.
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'''Coincidence''' can create a passive protagonist if they don't react to it in a forward way. It creates a "victim" protagonist. Lets say a house is blown down by a tornado—the protagonist should have a goal to fix it up or do something to stop them being passive.
   
 
==Change==
 
==Change==

Revision as of 17:42, 13 May 2010

Creating interesting characters is key. Interesting characters have goals, are active in the story, and develop/learn along the way.


Related Articles: Scene by Scene, Protagonist, Conflict

Goals

(This is the main info on character Goals—all articles should link here instead of re-explaining it.)


Every character should have goals. Something they want/need.

Characters who have goals and actively set out to get them are the strongest characters.

Every goal should be blocked by conflict.

Long-term goals

This goal lasts the duration of the story, and can change along the way.

Short-term goals

These are smaller scene by scene goals. These goals should also have conflict, either internal or external.

When they achieve/fail the goals, it should educate/develop the character, and form a new goal to begin the next scene.

Short-term goals stacked on top of one another make up the plot.

Examples

  • A prisoner wants to rescue his/her daughter (long-term goal). The short-term goals could be "escape the prison, evade the guards, find a vehicle, get home" before the long-term goal is achieved.

Active, not Passive

(This is the main info on active/passive protagonists—all articles should link here instead of re-explaining it.)


Your protagonist must be directly involved in causing the plot to unfold. Their decisions (based on goals) should send the plot in new directions.

A passive protagonist will kill a story. They will sit and watch the plot unfold but won't contribute to it. Characters will fall in love with them because the plot deems it so, instead of the protagonist affecting it. A reader will not feel this character is deserving of anything.

Coincidence can create a passive protagonist if they don't react to it in a forward way. It creates a "victim" protagonist. Lets say a house is blown down by a tornado—the protagonist should have a goal to fix it up or do something to stop them being passive.

Change

(This is the main info on character Change—all articles should link here instead of re-explaining it.)


Good characters usually change in some way over the course of a novel. There are a few different ways:

  • Start as monster and become normal/normal—think Scrooge
  • Never change as a person, but what they are capable of is revealed—see Tom Stall, Rupert Pupkin

Attitude

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Examples

  • Positive
  • Negative
  • No-nonsense
  • Pissed at the world

Emotion

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Faults

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