How to Start Writing Your Novel, part 3
Step 3: Choose Your Protagonist
Welcome to part three of the six-part series How to Start Writing Your Novel.
We’ve discussed situation and setting. Today, let’s talk about character. Every great novel begins with character. A specific character (your protagonist) must want a specific thing (desire), in a specific place and time (setting). Serious obstacles must stand in the way, making it difficult for your protagonist to get what he/she/they want (conflict).
So one of the first things you want to do before you start your novel is answer these questions:
Who is at the center of the novel’s action?
What does this character want?
Why do they want it?
The protagonist will usually be a character your reader ends up rooting for, no matter how flawed. And the protagonist must be flawed in order to be realistic and interesting. Emma Bovary is deeply flawed, but in the end, we care what happens to her as she hurtles toward self-destruction. Flaubert isn’t easy on Emma, but he portrays her in all of her complexity — her ambition, her passion, her rapacious desire for status and luxury. Every great novel is character-driven; your protagonist must be a character worth caring about.
You may end up writing what your protagonist looks like, but that is rarely as important as what your protagonist wants. Of course, what they want may be different from what they need, which provides another line of tension and conflict.
If you find it difficult to separate yourself from your protagonist, consider making the protagonist different from you in some significant way. After writing four novels with female protagonists, I wrote The Marriage Pact from the point of view of Jake, a marriage therapist who can’t get a handle on his own marriage. (What does he want? A happy, lasting marriage). Writing from the male perspective for the first time challenged me and took me to places in the story I might not have gone otherwise.
Remember: your protagonist isn’t you. Your characters can (and should) make bad decisions you would never make and get into trouble you’d never get yourself into. Trouble is the fun of fiction. Go there.
Assignment: Finish this sentence in the voice of your protagonist: "I want..." Or, if you're writing in third person, "He/she/they wants..." Finish the sentence and keep writing, elaborating on what the protagonist wants and why they want it.
If you want guidance and accountability to help you start your novel, you might enjoy my 8-week course, Foundations of Novel Writing.
Do you want to write a complete draft of your novel in 2024? NOVEL in NINE begins on February 5th. Go here to learn more.