Let's meet your hero today!
Hi everyone!
Welcome back to Flourish and Books.
I'm Angelina.
Today we're going to talk about how to create characters who are three-dimensional.
There are a lot of books out there, even bestsellers — I can name at least one that's on the
young adult bestseller list at the moment – that features a protagonist, who has clearly
been created to fit the plot, instead of making the protagonist the cause of the plot development.
It's really important to keep story structure in mind, but if you forget to consider who
your protagonist is, chances are your main character will feel flat, because they only
do what the plot requires them to do.
Of course we don't want our protagonist to lack depth, and therefore we should get
to know our main character in order to create a plot that suits him or her.
So this is going to be a longer video, and not only that, I've expanded the time we
are going to spend on creating our protagonists.
And I split everything up into multiple videos on this topic.
But let's start with the basics.
Oh and before we start, make sure to always have a notebook right next to you while watching
these videos, because it might happen that an idea strikes you while listening.
At least that's what happens to me whenever I study writing.
So be prepared!
Let's start by looking at what we've got so far: The premise including our concept
idea, and our theme.
For your premise you've already figured out who your main character is, or at least
you had a vague idea of who he or she might be.
So I guess you already determined what gender your protagonist is, how old he or she is
and what they do for a living or something else that's relevant about them.
If you've taken any other notes, or you already have any other ideas about them, feel
free to make a list now before we continue.
So, number one is a bit controversial.
Because most people start with very basic information, most of the time with physical
appearance.
But we're not going to start there.
We're rebels.
We're going to start with looking at our theme – if you have one that is.
If you don't, don't panic!
We will have another theme finding phase after you've gotten to know your protagonist better.
Don't worry!
But it is quite helpful to know it upfront, because, as mentioned before, knowing your
theme will show.
If you know from the start what you want to say, it will affect everything, especially
now that we're creating our protagonists.
Because we're going to create a main character that's on the opposite end of learning the
lesson that is synonymous for your theme.
For example: if you want your protagonist to learn that Christmas is all about love
and family then make your protagonist a grumpy old man called Ebenezer Scrooge.
Or make him green and call him The Grinch.
I hope you get my point.
So you can put him on the opposite end of learning the life lesson to create a bigger
contrast – contrast is always good – or you can make them completely oblivious to
the lesson ahead, or simply put them on an entirely different path, so they need to find
it first.
But you see, it can be very helpful to know your theme upfront.
Now, I think we already have a pretty good idea of who our protagonist should be, now
we can put him into a category.
Because I think it is helpful to know whether your main character is an actual hero, an
average person, an underdog or a misfit, or a lost soul or antihero.
They all evoke different emotions in a reader.
For example a hero will create awe, and readers will be fascinated with their strengths and
abilities and skills.
Whereas an average person will be relatable, and readers are looking for things in common.
An underdog often creates empathy but also anticipation, because a reader wants to see
whether an underdog succeeds in reaching his goals in spite of their flaws.
And an antihero usually creates the same emotions like an underdog, but they usually come from
a much darker place.
They usually represent the biggest flaws in humanity.
But for more info I will also add a video on creating antiheroes in particular and one
on how to make an unlikable character likable.
Make sure to look out for those.
So, yes, you can choose anyone to be your protagonist really, and it's up to you where
you see your protagonist at the beginning of your story, and who you want them to grow
into.
Once you know where on the spectrum your main character is, think about what makes them
stand out.
What's unique about them?
Your protagonist needs to be memorable.
And I don't mean that you have to give them a scar shaped like a bolt of lightning on
their forehead.
They just need to be unique within their environment.
And it can be a special skill they have, something about their appearance that makes them stand
out, or it can be something in the way they behave.
Harry Potter's scar is something that makes him unique by appearance.
Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games is exceptionally good at archery, which is a skill.
And if you've read The Night Manager by John le Carre, or watched the TV show adaptation
— which I highly recommend by the way, I'll link to it down below — there is that villain's
sidekick, who is constantly speaking in metaphors, and I'll always remember this character
for the way he spoke.
I just loved this character.
Just remember that you don't need to go to extremes.
An easy way to make a skill, or appearance, or behavior stand out, is by making all your
side characters NOT having that skill, appearance, or behavior.
So if you're writing about a woman who's an exceptionally good baker, just make everyone
else not good at baking.
Everyone will need to come to her for any baking needs.
And this skill needs to be appreciated by everyone — or envied.
But making you protagonist unique in some form can ensure that he or she is memorable.
And that's what we want.
Number 4: choose a model.
This is optional, of course, but I find it really useful.
So, we know what our story is about, we have a basic idea of who our protagonist is in
the beginning of the story, and we know what he or she needs to learn by the end of it.
Now you can play casting director and find an actor or actress to play the role.
Preferably someone you've already seen in a movie, because this will help you identify
facial expressions and posture, the way they move.
That's why I prefer actors over actual models or random people, because you've seen actors
in action.
It will, of course, give us a very clear picture of what they look like and how they move.
So we don't need to bother a lot with coming up with their looks.
Now place your model in your story world.
Watch them.
Analyze them.
How do they move, how do they behave?
Do some people-watching.
They haven't learned their lessons yet.
So what are they like?
Now we're going to turn back to our notebooks and continue our random list of traits, quirks,
flaws, etc., and jot down everything we can see in them.
Maybe you're also already getting ideas about family constellations, or relationships
– Write down anything you can think of.
In the next steps we will give our main character more meat.
First of all think about their values and motivations.
That is at the beginning of your story.
Values are different from motivations, though.
Motivations can be temporary and quite specific, whereas values are usually held for long periods
of time, if they change at all, and they are more abstract.
For example: A woman is opening her own bakery, and her motivation is that she always dreamed
about this, and now that she just lost a job this looks like the perfect time to try.
This is pretty specific so it's a motivation.
But her values include helping other people, which is abstract.
So she wants to help by sharing her baking skills, because she believes that the chocolate
lava cake melting on your tongue can make you happier and look more positively at problems
at hand, even if it's only due to a sugar rush.
Someone else might value the actual work or money a lot more.
They open a bakery because they happen to be good at baking, but they don't do it
to help others, but because they feel too ashamed of not getting another job or not
making enough money elsewhere.
You see that different values can cause different motivations, and therefore change the look
on things, which will ultimately change the path of your story.
And again this depends entirely on the message you want to convey.
While the lady, who values helping others, might learn that you can achieve anything,
if you work hard enough, the person who values hard work might learn that opening a bakery
can be satisfying, because of the people they make happy with their chocolate lava cake
and this makes you happy, and money becomes irrelevant.
Next, we need to give him or her goals.
Try giving them achievable, short-time goals as well as life goals.
But maybe start with life goals, because it can give you an even better idea of who you
protagonist is.
But a protagonist needs at least one main goal, otherwise they're pretty boring to
read about.
We need them to be active.
We all know for example the term "damsel in distress", which is basically a female
character, who is passive and rather than shaping the story with her own decisions she
let's the story happen AROUND her and TO her, hoping for others to save the day.
And frankly, nobody likes to read about them.
So make your hero active by giving them goals to pursue.
We also need to give our protagonist some flaws.
A perfect main character is almost impossible to relate to.
And not only that, perfect characters tend to be boring.
Think of your mother.
You love her, but I'm pretty sure she drives you crazy most of the time, right?
Why is that?
Give your hero some quirks and flaws that may drive others crazy – or better: give
them flaws that stand in their way that create an obstacle.
I'll give you more in depth info about the importance of this step in the video about
character arcs.
But for now just try to figure out a main flaw and some quirks for your protagonist.
Now that you've worked on these steps I'm sure you've had a ton of ideas for more
character traits.
Add them to your list.
But make sure they are positive, negative, and neutral traits.
You can also include any habits they might have, like always making their bed in the
morning.
This might sound as something neutral, but it can also be a positive thing if this person
used to be a messy.
But then again it can be negative, if you consider it from a different angle.
Because maybe that person's partner likes to sleep in and they always wake up because
your protagonist is a bit excessive with straightening the sheets while the partner is still snoring
along.
So make sure to add anything you might think of now.
Everything can be used or cut later.
Next we'll give our protagonist desires and yearning.
We all have them.
Often they're tied to our values, but they don't have to be.
But whatever your main character dreams about it's 99,9% something positive.
And this can create another motivation for them.
I hope you see that all these points are tied to each other.
And please remember that yearning is not need.
They're different, because yearning is often something they hope happens in their future,
and NEED kicks a character into action in the present.
A last point I think that is really important to know is whether your protagonist has found
his or her vocation.
This again is tied to your theme.
Look at the lesson your protagonist is supposed to learn – maybe they only think they've
found their vocation in the beginning of your story, but then they figure out that they
haven't after all, or that life is really about something else entirely.
If they haven't found their vocation at all, you need to decide whether they're
actively trying to figure it out or not.
This doesn't mean that your story has to be about finding your vocation, but it can
be an additional motivator, it can create new obstacles, which is always good, and it
doesn't have to be your main story goal.
It can simply happen along the way, if you want to.
And it can ultimately give your message more weight, if it affects more aspects of your
protagonist's life.
Don't overdo it though!
I think we all know these types of stories where in the end everything falls into place,
and we have a delightful happily-ever-after.
I think we can agree that these often sound a bit unrealistic.
I recommend setting up these kinds of outcomes earlier in the story, so they don't feel
like happy coincidences, but we'll talk about foreshadowing later.
You have to decide for yourself what you want to do with your story, but finding ones vocation
is always a great side effect to include.
Seeing someone finding his vocation even as a side effect of things, can be really empowering
for readers.
Think about Harry Potter, who had to learn why he was the chosen one and what it all
meant for him.
He realized he had to defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and a side effect was that
he also figured out he wanted to be an Auror.
It was never his main goal, it happened along the way, but it felt good reading about it.
It was all tied together, and it gave this whole good-vs-evil thing even more meaning.
So yes, decide whether your protagonist has found his vocation, whether they're actively
looking for it, or whether the one they believe to have found will remain true by the end
of your story.
And that's it for now.
These are the 10 first steps to create your protagonist.
As always you can get worksheets with more in depth questions, all the links are listed
below.
Now go create the best protagonist to convey your message.
And remember to not worry, if you don't have a theme yet, we're going to look at
that again.
Thanks so much for watching!
See you in the next video!
Bye!
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