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Writing Hacked 11- Protagonist CW
Disclaimer: PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE PROCEEDING FURTHER!
I have no formal education in creative writing or literature whatsoever. I learned everything by myself through youtube, reading, research, understanding, and writing away as much as I can. I make a lot of mistakes whether it be grammatical or any other kind. I hope you can point them out and help me correct it so I can learn more. I will try my best to provide you errorless guidance though. I am not going to pretend to know everything because I really don't. I have a lot to discover yet.
Whatever I am going to tell you here is through my own understanding and experience.
Enjoy.
💥Writing Hacked- 11💥
HOW TO WRITE A GOOD STORY
🔸🔸Character Writing🔸🔸
Please check out the previous parts:
a) Writing Hacked (1-6): Plot Writing
b) Writing Hacked 7: Character Writing - Types of characters
c) Writing Hacked 8: CW- Important traits of character.
d) Writing Hacked 9: (continued)
e) Writing Hacked 10:(Continued)
Now that we have covered the basic traits that your character should have, we will proceed with the type of characters that are generally found in the stories.
1) The Protagonist:
The main character in your story.
Readers often see the progress of the story through their perspective/ point of view.
(There are many kinds of points of view in which the story is portrayed for example first person, second person, third person and omniscient but that's the story for another day. I will add a post regarding this once we are done)
There can be multiple protagonists too which gives insight to much more information. They could have one motive or each could have different motives.
This character's the main person who drives the story forwards by making various decisions and has a personal goal in the story.
⚡5 TRAITS THAT SHOULD BE MUST-HAVE FOR A GOOD PROTAGONIST⚡
🔶A) Don't make them boring.
I have already listed the ways to make your character more interesting. Use them. Give them unique traits, physical or mental. If your story is boring, your protagonist's personality should be enough to compensate for all of it. If you are making them boring, make sure other characters and stories should compensate for it.
↪One of the biggest examples of the latter is The Twilight Series.
Bella Swan had one of the blandest personality ever. Edward Cullen on the other hand was just perfect.
The only reason the series worked was because of the idea of an irresistible, supernatural being, a vampire, falling in love with a high school girl, and complex side characters who had far better stories to tell than the main leads.
It was like a dream come true for teenage girls. It was done right. That's why it was famous.
↪For the former, the most remarkable performances of a protagonist I have seen was in the Indian movie called, 'Bheja fry' (Brain fry), the American alternative is, 'Due Date, (the one with RDJ)
In both the movies, A sophisticated, intellectual man is stuck with this crazy guy who has the weirdest and the strangest way of thinking, is very emotional, and makes impulsive decisions but most of all, he is good at heart.
The goal is simple, in the former, they have to get off an island and in the latter, the man has to go to another state to make it to the birth of his first child.
If you replace these characters with any other, the story would be a disaster and nobody would want to invest their time in it.
So make sure, your character is more than just a tool for a story. Give them life, let them breathe their own way.
🔶B) Your protagonist doesn't need to be a hero.
We learn that the main lead is always the one who is the good one. It has been installed in our brain that this person is the one you should root for. Even though they are not that good enough of a person. So, what do you do? Do you change the character? No. You stick with the type of character you want to have and leave it for the readers to judge.
🌸Tip- Many writers will add a line like, he is a good-hearted man who always gets good marks and blah, blah. Don't tell your writers. Show it. Add a scene where he is reading his mark sheet. It looks better than glorifying them. Let your reader judge. It's one of the best techniques. (Show and Tell is another topic I will cover)
🔶C) Let your characters have flaws.
I have seen so many writers who make their characters just perfect. They don't have any bad in them. Then what's the point of reading the entire thing since the protagonist is so perfect that they will solve anything in their way?
Give them flaws, let them learn in the journey/quest. Make them challenge their beliefs. Put them into a situation where they will face hard choices and feel broken. Let readers know the difference between their words and their actions. This trick makes them so likable. Let them make bad choices sometimes. It makes them more human and it's way more fun.
↪Do you know who was entirely perfect as a character with not a single flaw? Bahubali. That man didn't have a single bad trait, rather all the good ones. Then why didn't he bore us? The story, dialogues, and visuals were great. See? How one thing can compensate for another and pull it all off.
That's why I say, you do you. There will always be a lot of exceptions to the rules and they do great when done right. You might be that exception. Trust the process. These tips are to learn the basics, nothing else.
D) Adding a personal grudge with the antagonist makes the story spicier.
↪Example- Harry was purely shattered by the death of Sirius Black when Death Eaters killed him. This and revenge for his parents increased his desire to kill Voldemort.
🔶E) To write a good character, try not to project your beliefs, philosophies, or thought process onto them to justify it later in a story. It's a bit complicated to understand but some people write stories to fulfill their inner desires and fantasy, whatever it may be.
The majority of romance novels are like that. That's why when we watch movies, we think that it doesn't happen in real life. Yes, it doesn't because the person who wrote it just wanted to live their fantasy.
This might sound like a blow to the ego to some but the soon you overcome this, the better you will start creating more realistic characters.
🌸Tip- I have seen most sincere relationships in animes. Taught me very much about human reactions.🌸
In the next post, we will learn about Antagonist.
I hope you understood everything clearly 🙏 Thank you.
🏵About Me:
Hello, My name is Samiksha Kemwal and I am a 20-year-old college-going student who loves stories soooooooo very much! Ever since I was a child, I loved listening to fairy tales and watching stories in any form. Soon, not just fairy tales, I began relishing any form of the genre. As I grew up, I began reading fiction. My love for novels kept on increasing and I would read anything that I could get my hands upon.
Now, I absolutely enjoy stories in any format.
Written, video games, series, dramas, movies, theatrical, etc. It doesn't have to be in my mother tongue (Hindi) or English.
I like watching international shows/movies too. Korean, Chinese, Japanese(animes too), Pakistani, Turkish, Spanish, Indian regional languages with subtitles.
And now I have decided to write.
It's my dream to write a good story and get it published.
So this me. Trying to reach my dreams step by step. And I would like to take you along with me 😉
🌺Drop a heart and a comment below to let me know if you liked it.
🌺Suggest or ask anything, please. It will be my pleasure.
🌺Tag your favorite writers so I can get a review on this series.
🌺Follow for more.
#writinghacked #characterwriting #howtowriteagoodstory #storywriting #writinglessons #protagonist
© Samiksha Kemwal
I have no formal education in creative writing or literature whatsoever. I learned everything by myself through youtube, reading, research, understanding, and writing away as much as I can. I make a lot of mistakes whether it be grammatical or any other kind. I hope you can point them out and help me correct it so I can learn more. I will try my best to provide you errorless guidance though. I am not going to pretend to know everything because I really don't. I have a lot to discover yet.
Whatever I am going to tell you here is through my own understanding and experience.
Enjoy.
💥Writing Hacked- 11💥
HOW TO WRITE A GOOD STORY
🔸🔸Character Writing🔸🔸
Please check out the previous parts:
a) Writing Hacked (1-6): Plot Writing
b) Writing Hacked 7: Character Writing - Types of characters
c) Writing Hacked 8: CW- Important traits of character.
d) Writing Hacked 9: (continued)
e) Writing Hacked 10:(Continued)
Now that we have covered the basic traits that your character should have, we will proceed with the type of characters that are generally found in the stories.
1) The Protagonist:
The main character in your story.
Readers often see the progress of the story through their perspective/ point of view.
(There are many kinds of points of view in which the story is portrayed for example first person, second person, third person and omniscient but that's the story for another day. I will add a post regarding this once we are done)
There can be multiple protagonists too which gives insight to much more information. They could have one motive or each could have different motives.
This character's the main person who drives the story forwards by making various decisions and has a personal goal in the story.
⚡5 TRAITS THAT SHOULD BE MUST-HAVE FOR A GOOD PROTAGONIST⚡
🔶A) Don't make them boring.
I have already listed the ways to make your character more interesting. Use them. Give them unique traits, physical or mental. If your story is boring, your protagonist's personality should be enough to compensate for all of it. If you are making them boring, make sure other characters and stories should compensate for it.
↪One of the biggest examples of the latter is The Twilight Series.
Bella Swan had one of the blandest personality ever. Edward Cullen on the other hand was just perfect.
The only reason the series worked was because of the idea of an irresistible, supernatural being, a vampire, falling in love with a high school girl, and complex side characters who had far better stories to tell than the main leads.
It was like a dream come true for teenage girls. It was done right. That's why it was famous.
↪For the former, the most remarkable performances of a protagonist I have seen was in the Indian movie called, 'Bheja fry' (Brain fry), the American alternative is, 'Due Date, (the one with RDJ)
In both the movies, A sophisticated, intellectual man is stuck with this crazy guy who has the weirdest and the strangest way of thinking, is very emotional, and makes impulsive decisions but most of all, he is good at heart.
The goal is simple, in the former, they have to get off an island and in the latter, the man has to go to another state to make it to the birth of his first child.
If you replace these characters with any other, the story would be a disaster and nobody would want to invest their time in it.
So make sure, your character is more than just a tool for a story. Give them life, let them breathe their own way.
🔶B) Your protagonist doesn't need to be a hero.
We learn that the main lead is always the one who is the good one. It has been installed in our brain that this person is the one you should root for. Even though they are not that good enough of a person. So, what do you do? Do you change the character? No. You stick with the type of character you want to have and leave it for the readers to judge.
🌸Tip- Many writers will add a line like, he is a good-hearted man who always gets good marks and blah, blah. Don't tell your writers. Show it. Add a scene where he is reading his mark sheet. It looks better than glorifying them. Let your reader judge. It's one of the best techniques. (Show and Tell is another topic I will cover)
🔶C) Let your characters have flaws.
I have seen so many writers who make their characters just perfect. They don't have any bad in them. Then what's the point of reading the entire thing since the protagonist is so perfect that they will solve anything in their way?
Give them flaws, let them learn in the journey/quest. Make them challenge their beliefs. Put them into a situation where they will face hard choices and feel broken. Let readers know the difference between their words and their actions. This trick makes them so likable. Let them make bad choices sometimes. It makes them more human and it's way more fun.
↪Do you know who was entirely perfect as a character with not a single flaw? Bahubali. That man didn't have a single bad trait, rather all the good ones. Then why didn't he bore us? The story, dialogues, and visuals were great. See? How one thing can compensate for another and pull it all off.
That's why I say, you do you. There will always be a lot of exceptions to the rules and they do great when done right. You might be that exception. Trust the process. These tips are to learn the basics, nothing else.
D) Adding a personal grudge with the antagonist makes the story spicier.
↪Example- Harry was purely shattered by the death of Sirius Black when Death Eaters killed him. This and revenge for his parents increased his desire to kill Voldemort.
🔶E) To write a good character, try not to project your beliefs, philosophies, or thought process onto them to justify it later in a story. It's a bit complicated to understand but some people write stories to fulfill their inner desires and fantasy, whatever it may be.
The majority of romance novels are like that. That's why when we watch movies, we think that it doesn't happen in real life. Yes, it doesn't because the person who wrote it just wanted to live their fantasy.
This might sound like a blow to the ego to some but the soon you overcome this, the better you will start creating more realistic characters.
🌸Tip- I have seen most sincere relationships in animes. Taught me very much about human reactions.🌸
In the next post, we will learn about Antagonist.
I hope you understood everything clearly 🙏 Thank you.
🏵About Me:
Hello, My name is Samiksha Kemwal and I am a 20-year-old college-going student who loves stories soooooooo very much! Ever since I was a child, I loved listening to fairy tales and watching stories in any form. Soon, not just fairy tales, I began relishing any form of the genre. As I grew up, I began reading fiction. My love for novels kept on increasing and I would read anything that I could get my hands upon.
Now, I absolutely enjoy stories in any format.
Written, video games, series, dramas, movies, theatrical, etc. It doesn't have to be in my mother tongue (Hindi) or English.
I like watching international shows/movies too. Korean, Chinese, Japanese(animes too), Pakistani, Turkish, Spanish, Indian regional languages with subtitles.
And now I have decided to write.
It's my dream to write a good story and get it published.
So this me. Trying to reach my dreams step by step. And I would like to take you along with me 😉
🌺Drop a heart and a comment below to let me know if you liked it.
🌺Suggest or ask anything, please. It will be my pleasure.
🌺Tag your favorite writers so I can get a review on this series.
🌺Follow for more.
#writinghacked #characterwriting #howtowriteagoodstory #storywriting #writinglessons #protagonist
© Samiksha Kemwal
