How to write a novel: developing your protagonist
Here’s what you need to start writing a novel:
A character with a problem and a desire big enough to get them to confront the problem.
That’s it. It’s not a trick. Granted, there is a lot more to a compelling story than that, but every novel boils down to a character with a want and a problem.
Katniss wants to keep her sister safe and support her family, but she’ll have to fight to the death to do it.
Lara Jean wants to move past old crushes, but she can’t escape them when they get her love letters
Mark Watney wants to survive (and get back to Earth), but he’s stuck on an inhospitable planet, running out of supplies
Many writers have trouble getting started because they feel like they have to have some original, complex, premise for their novel. Not true. I love some of my favorite books, not because they have the most inventive premises, but because they have relatable protagonists with compelling plights.
That’s why the most important piece to starting a story is to figure out your protagonist. The plot will come later.
What’s your protagonist’s problem?
“A story is designed, from beginning to end, to answer a single overarching question, which complicates as the story progresses. After all, a story is a simulation — it captures our attention because it allows us to vicariously experience what it would be like to navigate a challenging situation. Which means we need to have an idea of what that situation is from the get-go.”
Lisa Cron, the author of Wired for Story and Story Genius, makes this argument. Her research has revealed that we read to learn about ourselves, others, and the world in hopes that we’ll be able to better navigate our everyday challenges. Our brain sees stories as a simulation or a test run to determine how we should approach problems when we come to them.
That’s why you hear so many people emphasize that a story isn’t a story unless there’s conflict.
We read to see how a character will get safely through conflict so that we can learn to do it ourselves.
A problem is a catalyst. It takes your protagonist from the status quo and catapults them into a journey for change. If there is no problem, there is no story.
The external problem
The other important thing to keep in mind is that the problem is both internal and external. The external problem is the literal obstacle keeping your protagonist from getting the thing she wants (we’ll talk more about that later).
The internal problem
But the internal problem is the thing that’s really keeping her stuck. The protagonist cannot achieve her goal until she fixes the internal problem.
For example, in a romance novel, the protagonist wants to find love, but maybe her job is moving her to a new city where she doesn’t know anyone. For an extroverted woman, that wouldn’t be a problem, but our protagonist is not an extrovert. So she will have to find a way to overcome or work with her introversion — her internal problem — to meet people in a new city — the external problem — and find love.
If you don’t know where to start, I recommend you pick a flaw or problem that interests you and build the protagonist from there. Personally, I’m inspired to write about characters with mental health challenges because it’s something I’ve struggled with.
Alternatively, maybe you already have a kernel of an idea. If that’s the case, try to pick the problem that connects with that story.
What does your protagonist want?
As I mentioned, your protagonist also has to want something. Why? Because humans hate change!
Even when we have problems in real life, if there isn’t a good enough reason to address them, we ignore them. That’s why my desk is a mess! I don’t have enough incentive to pick up my clutter—that is until I get nagged do it.
The same goes for your protagonist and her misbelief. If she can ignore her internal problem and resist change, she will. But if the thing she wants is big enough, or the problem has become unavoidable, and she has the right motivation, she’ll overcome her own inertia and set the story into motion.
Consider our introverted heroine again. She has to conquer a significant personal challenge—and possibly push herself WAY out of her comfort zone. She wouldn’t do that if the stakes weren’t high. But LOVE is a pretty serious desire. She’d change for love.
And, as Lisa Cron pointed out, the external problem is only going to get worse (and get further complicated by the internal problem), so that’s why this needs to be a really compelling want. It can’t be something small; she might give up at the first sign of hardship if the want isn't big. This is a life-long dream, if I don’t get it I will cease to go on kinda want.
That’s why it’s usually something like love or victory or revenge. Those kinds of things run deep.
One caveat: my cleaning example points out something you should keep in mind. I pick up to avoid being nagged; I don't change my fundamental habit.
Similarly, if your character's “want” is to avoid something, instead of actively pursuing a goal, she becomes reactionary. Things happen to her, and she runs from the problem. She doesn’t drive the story, and she's less likely to change in the process.
So, what does your character want? Make it big enough that she won’t run screaming at the first sign of trouble getting it. And make it something she has to actively pursue.
Who is your protagonist?
Okay—your character has a problem and they want something. And those two things are connected. You’re doing great!
Now you get to find out more about this protagonist. Who is she? Why is she the way she is? Where does she live? How did she get there?
All the good stuff.
The reason why I’m asking you to figure this out after you’ve nailed down the problem and the want is because everything you know about your character has to be relevant to those things.
Too often, writers are instructed to develop their character through tasks like determining her favorite color or figuring out what she’d order off a menu that’s in a different language.
But if those details have no bearing on your story problem, and they won’t help her get the things she wants, you don’t have to consider them!
What you do need to focus on is your character's backstory. You need to delve into your protagonist’s past enough to understand how her disbelief came to be and why she wants the thing she wants. All the relevant details should build from that.
A little more about the importance of backstory
We make meaning of everything in life based on our past experiences. Don't believe me? Take notice of what happens in your mind as you navigate your day. When you grab your morning cup of coffee, does the mug you reach for trigger a memory? How about when you go to heat up food—you don't touch the stove because you learned at some point (hopefully, not through injury) not to do that.
Let's get more specific. Your doorbell rings, which in of itself is a neutral event. But there's so much meaning tied up in it and the way you react will be entirely influenced by the context around the event.
If your best friend had texted you that she was on her way over, you'd react with excitement when you heard the doorbell. Unless...
You had a fight with her a week ago, and you haven't talked to her since. You might dread the sound of the doorbell.
If you had no warning that someone was coming, you might feel curious about who's ringing the doorbell. Unless...
The neighbor kids have been ding-dong ditching you. Then the doorbell ringing might make you pretty mad.
How does apply to your character?
This is an innocuous example, but it shows how much memory and context influence how we feel and what we do in the moment. In the case of your character, any significant moments in their past will affect the present of your story. This is especially true for moments that taught them that the world or people work a specific way.
Just like we do in real life, when your character is faced with a decision or problem, they will draw on their past experiences, remembering what did and didn't work last time to determine what they should do. That's why you want to be clear on the seminal moments in your character's life because they will come into play.
What’s the origin of your protagonist’s internal problem?
Dig into your protagonist’s history to find the moment when his internal problem or misbelief first developed. Say the problem is that your protagonist has trouble trusting others—what was the moment in his past that he was betrayed by someone that has made him incapable of trusting anyone?
Consider the case of our introvert looking for love. She's naturally introverted, so you have to dig into the moment when she decided that was a bad thing. Maybe her attention-seeking older sister forced her further into her shell and made her feel like there was something wrong with her.
What’s the origin of your protagonist’s want?
Generally, when we want something bad enough that we’re willing to overcome great obstacles or make sacrifices, the want doesn’t come from a superficial place. It’s a deep need, grounded in our past. So in the case of our example, maybe the protagonist is desperate to find love because she was constantly overshadowed by her older sister, which caused her to question her ability to be loved. She thinks that finding love will finally validate that she’s just as worthwhile as her sister.
So, what was the moment that want cemented for your protagonist? Feel free to free write a couple of scenes here, too. Maybe she’s made attempts at finding love before—how did those work out? How will they influence her in the story now?
What will challenge your protagonist in this specific pursuit?
How is the protagonist going to overcome the problem and get the thing they want?
We’ve established that it can’t be easy for your protagonist to get what she wants and overcome her problem—otherwise, it would a very short or boring story. So you’ve got to determine the obstacle(s) she will go up against.
It's best to identify challenges that are specific to the character’s problem. These will test the very thing she needs to change about herself to get what she wants.
For example, if your protagonist struggles with trust but the obstacle you put to him is climbing a mountain by himself, the challenge won’t force him to re-examine his trust issues. Thus, he either won’t change or if he does, it feels unearned because there’s no cause and effect behind the change.
The main obstacle, as well as all the little bumps leading up to it, have to be related to your protagonist’s problem so they have a reason to change.
In the case of our lady looking for love, every obstacle standing in her way needs to force her to confront her introversion. Maybe she winds up in the same city as her sister, who drags the protagonist to a kickball league every week.
You also want to nail down your ultimate obstacle—how do all the smaller challenges culminate creating the final test and ultimate moment of change for the protagonist.
For example, our introvert gets invited to the kickball league’s season-end social by the cute guy she’s had her eye on. She wants to go with him, but the thought of going to a crowded bar with a bunch of strangers sounds excruciating. So she makes up an excuse not to go and potentially ruins her chance with the guy, who assumes she just doesn’t like him. She will be forced to make a choice if she wants him back (we'll get to that in the last exercise).
So, brainstorm a list of challenges that would specifically put your protagonist’s problem to the test while keeping the thing she wants out of her reach.
How will your protagonist change in the end?
There’s a lot of debate over whether you should know the end before you start. Many authors claim that if they already know the ending, writing the story is a boring exercise; others say that if they don’t know the ending, they have no clue what direction to write in.
Neither way is right or wrong. Do whichever works best for you.
But you should know how your protagonist will be changed in the end.
You don't have to decide the exact events of the ending, you just need to know the internal endpoint for the protagonist.
To finish off the love story example, the protagonist doesn’t have to go from introvert to extrovert, either. Oftentimes, problems are just not that black and white. Instead, the protagonist could finally accept that she’s an introvert, and stop trying to force herself to be extroverted like her sister. So she goes to the guy she stood up and confesses that she likes him, but she hates the kickball league and crowded bars. He will accept her in the end for that, just like she's learned to accept herself, further proving that she’s made the right change to get to a better place.
Now it’s your turn. How does your protagonist change, and where does she wind up in the end?
You’ve developed your protagonist—now what?
So now you know where your main character starts in terms of her want and her problem. You also know where the character ends in terms of her emotional change. Finally, you have a pretty good idea of the obstacles she faces.
Even if it doesn't feel like much, it's enough to start building an outline. Because you understand your protagonist's past, you will be able to determine how they will act and react. You also know their end goal, so you have a good idea of the direction they must head.
But first consider validating your idea
Getting feedback on your story premise and your character development before you start to write can make the difference between slogging through your draft with confusion and self-doubt or writing your novel with confidence.
Most writers are too close to their work to evaluate it objectively. You need an outside opinion. I can validate your idea or help you see where there’s room to develop it further.
And you don’t have to wait until you have a finished draft to get feedback. In fact, getting an expert opinion on your story before you start will help you avoid writing in circles, saving you time and energy.
The Story Clarity Consultation gives you feedback and direction on your idea before you sink months or years into a novel that just doesn’t work. It gives you valuable insight on the commercial viability of your novel well before you try to sell it. And it gives you a better chance of making your novel-writing dreams a reality.