Category Archives: Characters

Protagonist & Antagonist – Who ARE These Guys?

protagonist-antagonistThe protagonist and antagonist may not be who you think they are.  For one thing, a protagonist is not necessarily the hero of a story.  Structurally speaking, the protagonist is the one who shakes up the status quo – that’s the “pro” part, while the antagonist is the one who tries to stop that effort or put it back the way it was.

In a James Bond film, for example, it is often the bad guy who begins an evil process that James Bond is called upon to thwart.  This makes the bad guy the protagonist even though he is the villain, and James the antagonist even though he is the hero.

In practice, a true hero is a protagonist who is also the main character (we identify with him) and is also a good guy.  A villain is an antagonist who is also the influence character (he has an opposing life philosophy or morality to that of the main character) and is also a bad guy.

But these traits can be mixed and matched between the two characters creating, for example, anti heroes and sympathetic villains.

The main point here is to stop thinking of protagonist and antagonist as hero and villain but as structural functions – to begin a quest or to try and stop a quest.  Then, you can have some fun as an author determining which of these is the good guy and bad guy and with which one you wish your readers or audience to identify.

This video was excerpted from:

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Should Your Main Character Start or Stop?

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Over the course of your story, the Main Character will either grow out of something or grow into something.  Authors show their audiences how to view this development of a Main Character by indicating the direction of Growth by the Main Character.

If the story concerns a Main Character who Changes, he will come to believe he is the cause of his own problems (that’s why he eventually changes).  If he grows out of an old attitude or approach (e.g. loses the chip on his shoulder), then he is a Stop character.  If he grows into a new way of being (e.g. fills a hole in his heart), then he is a Start character.

If the story concerns a Main Character who Remains Steadfast, something in the world around him will appear to be the cause of his troubles.  If he tries to hold out long enough for something to stop bothering him, then he is a Stop character.  If he tries to hold out long enough for something to begin, then he is a Start character.

If you want the emphasis in your story to be on the source of the troubles which has to stop, choose “Stop.”  If you want to emphasize that the remedy to the problems has to begin, choose “Start.”

This tip was excerpted from:

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What Drives a Main Character?

certificate-of-justificatioA story begins when the Main Character is stuck up in the highest level of justification. Nobody gets there because they are stupid or mean. They get there because their unique life experience has brought them repeated exposures to what appear to be real connections between things like, “One bad apple spoils the bunch” or “Where there’s smoke , there’s fire.”

These connections, such things as – that one needs to adopt a certain attitude to succeed or that a certain kind of person is always lazy or dishonest – these things are not necessarily universally true, but may have been universally true in the Main Character’s personal experience.

This is how we all build up our personalities. We all share the same basic psychology but how it gets “wound up” by experience determines how we see the world. Eventually we reach a point where we’ve had enough experience to arrive at a conclusion that things are always “that way” and to stop considering the issue. And that is how everything from “winning drive” to “prejudice” is formed – not by ill intents or a dull mind but by the fact that no two life experiences are the same.

The conclusions we come to, based on our justifications, free out minds to not have to reconsider every connection we see. If we had to, we’d become bogged down in endlessly reconsidering everything, and that just isn’t a good survival trait if you have to make a quick decision for fight or flight.

So, we come to certain justifications and build upon those with others until we have established a series of mental dependencies and assumptions that runs so deep we can no longer see the bottom of it. This becomes the framework of our thoughts and the template for our behavior.

But what if the situation has changed in some fundamental way so that the entire pyramid of givens we have subconsciously assembled over a period of years is built on a false assumption – the one brick at the bottom that makes all our higher level beliefs and conclusions flawed?

Simply put, we can’t see it. And therefore we cannot help but assume that the problem lies with the situation or with the people involved in that situation, and not with our own point of view.

Stories begin at that moment – when the Main Character’s long-held subconscious belief system, world view, philosophy, or template for behavior comes into conflict with the world around him or her. And the story’s structure is all about how an Influence Character repeatedly brings this conflict to the surface in one context after another until there is so much evidence that the Main Character’s view is incorrect, that he or she must make a choice in a leap of faith: Do I stick with my long-held beliefs, even though they don’t seem to be solving the problem, or do I switch to a new point of view that seems to explain things, yet has never been tried?

Circumstances in the plot force the Main Character to make a choice, or his or her deliberation might go on forever because the evidence is perfectly balanced on each side of this thematic message argument. But in the real world, we are seldom confined in such a way and tend to perpetuate our points of view in the hope that things will eventually work out without having to undo our dearly held beliefs.

And that’s why psychotherapy takes twenty years for us to arrive at the point a Main Character can reach in a two-hour movie or a two hundred-page book.

If you don’t have this, YOUR STORY WILL FAIL

If you don’t have this, YOUR STORY WILL FAIL

This video really illustrates the philosophical conflict between the Main Character and the Influence Character, which is the heart of your story’s message.

Once you have viewed the video, note that one says “we’re just alike” and the other says, “we’re nothing alike.” How can they be so blind to the other character’s point of view? Because it is like one saying, “we’re alike because we are both fruit” and the other saying, “we’re nothing alike because you are an apple and I am an orange.”

You see, they are BOTH right, depending on the context. So the real philosophical argument is actually over which of the two contexts is the most truthful or the best way of looking at their relationship and by extension of looking at life. THAT is the theme of the whole story, and the message is which way you, the author, “proves” is best.

How do you create a main character who is an antagonist?

A writer just asked, “Can I make my main character an Antagonist instead of the Protagonist?”

My reply:

The main character is the one through whose eyes the reader or audience experiences the story. It is the one around whom the personal issue or problem of the story seems to revolve. The main character is, essentially, the “first person” point of view in the story. It is through them we most passionately experience the story first hand by identifying with them.

Protagonist and antagonist are not point of view characters but are character functions. The protagonist is the one who is the prime mover of the effort to achieve the goal. The antagonist is all about preventing the protagonist from achieving the goal. In our own minds, protagonist represents our initiative – the motivation to affect change. Antagonist is our reticence – the motivation to maintain the status quo, or at least to return to it.

So, any character in a story can be the main character, not just protagonist or antagonist. it could be a by stander, simply providing a passionate point of view on the plot, just as if the story were a football game, the main character doesn’t have to be the quarterback (protagonist) or opposing quarterback (antagonist) but could be the half back or any of the linesmen, or ever then water boy. But, whomever is your main character, it is they who grapple with the underlying moral issue of the story, it is they who are brought to a point where they must either stick by their guns or change their ways in regard to some philosophical or moral point of view or manner. It is the main character who must make a leap of faith. And, their connection to the story at large is that as a result of their decision on the central message issue, either the protagonist or antagonist will succeed.

When you select one of your players as a protagonist and also as the main character you get the stereotypical hero – a character who grapples with the moral issue, represents the reader/audience point of view, and is also leading the charge in the logistics of the plot. But, the main character can be anyone. For example, in most James Bond movies, Bond is a main character antagonist – not a protagonist – because it is the villain who is affecting change due due their evil scheme, making them the protagonist, and it is Bond who seeks to prevent that change or return things to the status quo, even though we see things through Bond’s eyes, making him the main character with whom the reader/audience identifies. And what of Bond doing the other main character job of grappling with a moral issue? In a few movies he does, but the moral issue is actually a personal battle over what is proper between the main character and the influence character who represents the opposing moral viewpoint. They thrash out the message of the story between them, independent of whether either of them is a protagonist or antagonist. So, in bond films, he almost always remains steadfast on that issue, while it is the influence character who is changed in their moral point of view by Bond’s intransigence.

In the Dramatica software, you can assign the main character view and Influence character view to any of your characters in the Build Characters window.

Hope this helps.

Melanie
Storymind

Character Background Stories

One of my writing students just asked, “What do I need to develop about a character’s background story even though that character is not the main character?”

My reply:

For characters other than the main character, a background story is more about how they came to be where and who they are today. No development of personal issues is needed. But, a story can be enhanced by giving each of the principal characters a true back story, even if it is sketchy, showing that each character has his own path that created a central potential for change within them. Then, as main character in their own sub story, each character may change (or not) in regard to their personal issue, adding interest and detail to the work as a whole. In addition, characters may be so wrapped up in their personal stories that they will choose to act against their type in the main story because of strong personal needs. For example, in the original Star Wars movie, Han Solo agrees to help rescue the princess from the detention block. This is completely against his character type (the skeptic) in the movie as a whole (out for himself, doesn’t believe in the force, etc.). Why? because Luke says, “She’s rich…” and Han needs to pay back Jabba the Hut to get the bounty hunters off his back – his personal sub-story.

To summarize – characters other than the main character need only a thin description of how they came to be who and what they are when the story begins, and this can be dropped as additional interesting exposition to humanize them over the flow of the story. But giving them a complete sub-story, even if loosely drawn, will show how their motivations were developed, providing reasons for the drives they exhibit in the story and also giving them the opportunity to grow and change.

Read more of my tips for story development at http://storymind.com

Can a protagonist become so angry he threatens the sidekick?

A writer asked me today, “Can a protagonist get so angry he threatens the sidekick??

My response…

Sure. Objective characters are defined by how they function, not how they feel about each other. So, the Protagonist (our initiative) will seek to evoke change, often in the form of seeking to achieve a goal. The Sidekick (our self confidence) contains the objective elements of faith and support, making him the faithful supporter. He supports everybody – has hope that even the villain will see the error of his ways. The sidekick does not have to be attached to the protagonist. He can be a free floater or even be attached to the antagonist – think Renfield in Dracula. How he feels about the other characters is all storytelling. But, no matter how he feels, the sidekick must exhibit faith and support. So, while the protagonist may threaten the sidekick, the sidekick might respond with, “You’ve really hurt me and really crossed the line. But I’m still behind you, though my heart won’t be in it any more.”

Hope this helps.

Melanie

Write Your Novel Step by Step (25) “Who’s Your Main Character?”

Of all your cast, there is one very special player: the Main Character. Your Main Character is the one your story seems to be about – the one with whom your readers most identify – in short, the single most important character in your novel.

You probably already know who your Main Character is. If, so, you’ll find this step opens opportunities to avoid stereotyping him or her. If you haven’t yet selected your Main Character, this step will help you choose one from your cast list.

First, your Main Character is not necessarily your protagonist. While the protagonist is the prime mover of the effort to achieve the story goal, the Main Character is the one who grapples with an inner dilemma, personal issue or has some aspect of his or her belief system come under attack.

Most writers combine these two functions into a single player (a hero) who is both protagonist and Main Character in order to position their readers right at the heart of the action, as in the Harry Potter series.

Still, there are good reasons for not always blending the two. In the book and movie To Kill A Mockingbird, the protagonist is Atticus – a southern lawyer trying to acquit a young black man wrongly accused of rape. That is the basic plot of the story.

But the Main Character is Atticus’ young daughter, Scout. While the overall story is about the trial, that is really just a background to Scout’s experiences as we see prejudice through her eyes – a child’s eyes.

In this way, the author (Dee Harper) distances us from the incorruptible Atticus so that we do not feel all self-righteous. And, by making Scout effectively prejudiced against Boo Radley (the scary “boogie man” who lives down the street), we see how easily we can all become prejudiced by fearing what we really know nothing about.

In the end, Boo turns out to be Scout’s secret protector, and the story’s message about both the evils and ease of prejudice is made.

Your story may be best suited to center around a typical hero, especially if it is an action story or physical journey story. But if you are writing more of an exploration novel in which the plot unfolds as a background against which a personal journey of self-discovery or a resolution of personal demons is told, then separating your Main Character from the protagonist (and the heart of the action) may serve you better.

Armed with this understanding, review the cast you have chosen for your novel. If you have already selected a Main Character, see if they are a hero who is also the protagonist, driving the action. If so, consider splitting those functions into two players to see if it might enhance your story for your readers. If you have already set up a separate Main Character and protagonist, consider combining them into a hero, to see if that might streamline your story.

If you have not yet chosen a Main Character and/or a protagonist, review your cast list to see if one player would best do both jobs or if one would better drive the plot and the other would better carry the message.

When you have made your choices, write a brief paragraph about your Main Character and/or protagonist to explain how those two functions are satisfied by your chosen character or characters.

This article is one of the 200 interactive steps in

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