Whether writing a long running series or a one-off story, especially in character driven stories as most are nowadays, getting the main character of the story right is one of the most crucial aspects of storywriting. When it comes to writing fantasy and science fiction stories, it’s often quite normal to rely on the “chosen … Continue reading How to Write the Chosen One Archetype
Tag: Protagonist
What makes for an engaging protagonist?
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 … Continue reading What makes for an engaging protagonist?
Story Musing: Writing a Clever Protagonist
One type of character I’ve noticed that’s been tricky to write has always been the clever protagonist. Typically a lot of fantasy novels resort to the protagonist unlocking a special power, summoning an inner strength (maybe the power of love, friendship, confidence, etc.), or just something that allows them to overpower the antagonist. It follows … Continue reading Story Musing: Writing a Clever Protagonist
Storytelling Musings: Showing the villainy rather than telling it.
**Slight spoilers for Harley Merlin #4: Harley Merlin and the First Ritual** While I’ve been praising the Harley Merlin series and especially Harley Merlin #4: Harley Merlin and the First Ritual, there is a strange lack in stakes or at least it doesn’t feel like the stakes are that high. That’s because the antagonist, the … Continue reading Storytelling Musings: Showing the villainy rather than telling it.
Writing an interesting protagonist – Struggles & Flaws
In a character driven story, almost no one wants to watch the characters effortlessly push through the plot without any kind of hurdle or obstacle to overcome. Those kind of stories often tend to be power fantasies that, while entertaining and enjoyable, are often more superficial and focused on a lot of action but very … Continue reading Writing an interesting protagonist – Struggles & Flaws
Writing an interesting protagonist – Goals & Motivation
In a character driven story, the protagonist needs a goal to push the story through. There’s something tangible that the character is trying to achieve that either they succeed in the end or they fail, but that goal needs to be established. What that goal is can be literally anything so long as the writer … Continue reading Writing an interesting protagonist – Goals & Motivation
The Antagonist’s Development
Sometimes a very difficult character to develop, but a strong antagonist is as important as the protagonist. There are several different forms of antagonists, a societal antagonist, a particular person opposing the protagonist, or maybe the person opposing the protagonist is himself or herself. It is possible to flesh out the relationship more, but at … Continue reading The Antagonist’s Development
Where are all the Strong Female Protagonists?
It always struck me as strange that, in the past 4 years I was an English Literature Major, that I started noticing similarities in several unrelated stories. One similarity that has bothered me most was the typical depiction of a female character, protagonist or side character. Either they are dependent on another character to get … Continue reading Where are all the Strong Female Protagonists?
Raph's Cozy Musings 