Today's Guest Post is ALL about the 7 things you need to consider when writing a protagonist that CAPTURES the audience! No matter what their world is or the rules that govern it, the audience is always taken on a journey through the eyes of your protagonist. They don't always have to be likeable, but their decisions and character do have to be BELIEVABLE!
With the seven examples following, we have also included their scripts for you to read (all scripts have been sourced from the amazing Script Slug) - so without further ado, I'll hand over to Merlin who has rounded up these 7 key points to take note of!
1. Be Interesting
Your protagonist
needs to be interesting.
If you do this, the audience will want to see what
happens to them. They’ll want to see how they tackle obstacles and follow their
story.
To do this, make them
relatable. We won’t invest in someone too different from ourselves. Otherwise,
how could their journey teach us anything.
At the most basic level, we all need
the same things: food, safety, sleep etc. Show your protagonist yawning as they
wake, eating breakfast or bored at work.
To generate
interest in your protagonist, make them relatable.
2. Want Two Things
Your protagonist should
want two things. Or more specifically, want
one thing but need another.
Luke
Skywalker wants adventure but needs family.
Their wants and
needs are intertwined with the suspense and emotional plots. In thrillers,
suspense plots dominate e.g. find the killer. In others, such as Little Miss Sunshine, it’s less
important to know the outcome (does Olive win) but whether the emotional
outcome is satisfied (can the family support each other).
At the end, we
have to know if they’ve gotten their want or need. In Chinatown, Gettes solves the mystery but loses both women.
Make sure your
protagonist wants something and needs something.
3. Have a Superpower
We’ve now got a
protagonist with two goals that’s interesting. What they need now is a
superpower.
In superhero stories, the simplest are an exaggeration of athletic
abilities e.g. fighting, running fast.
However, even if you’re not
writing that type of story - you still need something they’re better at than everyone
else.
In Bodyguard, David Budd is an
expert at keeping people safe. But it doesn’t have to be physical. In A Beautiful Mind, John Nash is a
brilliant but asocial mathematician.
We like to watch
people being good at something. If the hero can use their expertise to solve a
problem, it gives us belief that we can solve our own.
Show your
protagonist being good at something.
4. Exhibit Flaws
As well as watching
your protagonist excel, we also need to see them fail.
Some of their setbacks
should be attributed to a flaw. In superhero movies, its usually a physical
vulnerability e.g. Bruce Willis’s character is weakened by water in Unbreakable. In Bodyguard, David has post-traumatic stress disorder.
Their defect counterbalances
their superpower, making them rounded.
No one’s perfect. In Happy Valley,
Catherine Cawood exclaims, “…I’m divorced, I live with my sister…I’ve two grown
up children, one dead and one who doesn’t speak to me.”
Make your
protagonist imperfect.
5. Lead The Action
Your relatable,
flawed, talented protagonist is ready to chase their dream, unaware of what
they really need. Now they need to do stuff.
In Thelma and Louise, the pair go on a road trip.
Barriers should block
your protagonist’s progress, but they should try to overcome them. If they go
with the flow we’ll start to lose interest.
Of
course, for all rules, there are always exceptions. In Raiders of the Last Ark, if the actions of the Indiana Jones are
removed, the outcome is unchanged - but the fact they don’t matter in the end doesn’t
remove our enjoyment.
Ensure your
protagonist decides where the story goes next.
6. Make Mistakes
Robin Sharma said there are no mistakes in life, only lessons.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we tend to repeat our mistakes. But our
protagonist isn’t us, so we can have them break the cycle.
Since your
protagonist is driving the action, they’re repeatedly making decisions. Ensure
they don’t get each one right, whether through a bad choice, fate or deception.
Your protagonist
might be like Superman, but even he makes mistakes e.g. damaging Metropolis in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - by
showing them make bad choices, we get to see how they handle with the
repercussions.
Show your
protagonist failing as they attempt to reach their goal.
7. Show Resilience
The final element
needed to make your protagonist a rounded character is resilience.
Your
protagonist must always get to the end of the story. With or without getting they
wanted or needed. In Die Hard, John
McClane can barely stand but he reaches the top of the tower to face Hans
Gruber.
By showing a never say die attitude we’re shown that
we can overcome or own setbacks. We’ve followed them through their journey only
to see them flat out on the canvas, unable to get up.
But somehow, they do, for
one final round.
Ensure your
protagonist doesn’t give up.
You’ve now got the
seven key elements to make your protagonist the best they can be.
They’re
someone we’re interested in, they’ve got something they want and another thing
they need, they’re talented, imperfect, make choices that aren't always right, but they NEVER give up!
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