A daunting question every writer must face but one that doesn’t have a definitive answer, how does a writer create a protagonist that is engaging and makes the story worth reading? Something to note though is that we’re looking to write an engaging protagonist as opposed to just a likeable character. Trying to write a likeable character is difficult as it’s very subjective. It’s something that is very much dependent on the reader as we all like different things. An engaging protagonist is both an interesting character but, more importantly, the driving force that makes the overall story engaging to keep the reader invested. While there is some subjectivity still, there’s still some common traits across many examples to learn from. Different concepts will work for different stories, but typically there’s a few common ideas that help create an engaging protagonist.
There’s an old quote from Pixar Rules of Storytelling that I always felt was a good rule of thumb when writing characters: “Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.” This works really well when considering character driven stories and how progression needs to feel earned. An engaging protagonist needs to do something to earn an outcome that progresses the story. That “something” can really be anything from training to studying to whatever so long as an effort is being made on the part of the protagonist driving the story forward. A really simple and overt example of this is Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The entire series main overarching plot is about Aang training and learning to bend all four elements to defeat the fire lord. Everytime Aang does some crazy magical thing to save the day, it’s believable to the audience because they’ve seen him train to do it. That progression is then earned and believable when writing out the story.
Something that makes a protagonist engaging is seeing that character struggle to achieve what they’re setting out to accomplish. This is different from a character working hard to achieve their goals as this struggling typically involves (usually) an external force that is in opposition to the protagonist. I say usually as it depends on the type of antagonist in the story be it a person/group of people, society as a whole, or the protagonist self-sabotaging themselves. But that struggle is what makes the audience root for the protagonist. Most people typically find a character that faces hardships and setbacks but still manages to keep going far more compelling, even more so when the odds are stacked against them. Spensa from Skyward by Brandon Sanderson is a great example of a character constantly struggling but keeping her persistent and stubborn personality to achieve her goals. The most important part of that, however, is that she does have that moment where she crumbles. Like discussed in The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell, there’s that moment of falling that makes the reader feel for her and want to see how her story ends.
Now something that works very well to make a protagonist engaging but is very difficult to pull off is adding a twist to the character. Some people refer to it as a quirk but it’s what makes the character feel unique and interesting but most importantly it should be something that either hinders them or helps them in some way. It’s very difficult, however, as it’s very easy to fall into the “chosen one” trap. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with such a trope as long as they still go about earning their specialness and have that struggle to accomplish their goal. This uniqueness can also be something that’s special to them that isn’t necessarily a special power or magic but just something about them as a person. My favorite example of this happens to be one of my favorite characters, Yumeko from Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa. She is half-kitsune and half-human which is both a benefit to her in the story but also a very dangerous secret she has to keep. Her kitsune half helps her solve problems and conflicts they face but it’s something she would be killed for if ever discovered. It creates this interesting bit of tension that makes her story compelling and keeps the reader interested.
Writing an engaging protagonist is difficult as, similar to writing a likeable character, there’s a bit of subjectivity involved in the process. Some things just won’t appeal to everyone. All we can do as writers is consider what ideas and traits that have been done through the years and study what works and what doesn’t work. This isn’t to say to copy those examples outright but more to let it help you understand just what it is that makes those characters engaging and take it into consideration when writing your own.
– Raphael
Raph's Cozy Musings 