Does Your Protagonist Have Too Many Pros?

Writing a protagonist is hard. You have to come up with someone who your readers will like to spend time with. If you're going to achieve this, you're going to need to create a character that has likeable traits.

Your protagonist has a big job to do: they have to carry the weight of the story. If your protagonist is weak, your story is going to be weak as well.

When you're creating a protagonist, remember that protagonist is not synonymous with hero. They don't have to be the good guy. But they do need to be likeable.

Even if your protagonist isn't the good guy, your reader is going to be spending a lot of time with this character and getting to know them. They need some good qualities.

Because of this, what tends to happen is that people create their protagonists and make them too good. Sometimes, we want our protagonist to be a role model so we emphasize their goodness. But many times, when that's the case, we don't realize that there is such a thing as too good and it's easy to make our protagonist too perfect. If that happens, your reader won't relate to your character or even like them.

Remember that your character is human, so he/she must have flaws. That's how readers relate. No one is able to connect to a character who is always perfect. Make sure your character is wrong sometimes.

I like the book Inkheart a lot. I think it's a really great story but I absolutely cannot stand Meggie, the protagonist. She is definitely a flawed character, so that's not the problem. She's selfish, arrogant, rebellious and disobedient. The problem with her is that, despite these flaws, she's never wrong. Every decision she makes ultimately ends up being the right one. She flatly disregards things her father says and it ends up being the right decision. Which just makes her more arrogant and there's very little character development with her.

So even if you make your character flawed, they can still be too perfect if they are always right, even in the midst of their flaws. They can't just have flaws because that's not enough. Their flaws need to get them in trouble, they need to make mistakes. Otherwise, there's no point to having them. If your protagonist has flaws, but he/she never struggles with them, the flaws may as well not exist.

Having a flawed protagonist helps you story in several ways. If your character has no imperfections, or not enough imperfections, there is no room for development and character development is important. Flaws add depth to your character and make them far more realistic than they otherwise would be. Flaws also add to your story by creating minor conflicts that your protagonist must learn to correct.

Don't just give your character random flaws, though. Give them flaws that will help your plot unfold and be significant to your story. Have someone who is burdened with making decisions be impulsive so that they must learn to think before they act, or make them indecisive and have their inability to make choices affect those around them. Flaws are part of being human, so don't make your protagonist flawless.

Everyone makes bad decisions, so don't be afraid to let your protagonist do so as well. Be careful, though, when creating your character, you don't give them too many faults, either. Don't be so focused on giving them imperfections that you forget about giving them some good qualities, too. Even if they're not a hero, or the good guy, if there's nothing likeable about them, your reader isn't going to like spending the whole book with them. Don't go overboard with the good qualities, and don't go overboard with the flaws. You need to find a balance between the two.

When used correctly, some traits can be used as both a likeable characteristic and a flaw. One such trait is sarcasm. In a positive light, it can add humor to a dry or humorless scene and relieve tension in an uncomfortable or awkward situation. It can be helpful to you, as the writer, to have a character around with a quick wit. It can also function as a flaw, though, when used at the wrong moments. It can make your character look insensitive at times or they can use their sarcasm to speak derogatorily to or about others.

Don't put yourself in a box. Look at the traits your character has and see if you can use them for good and bad qualities alike. If your protagonist is a know-it-all, that trait doesn't always have to hinder the process. Sometimes it might actually help the situation. You're not limited one way or the other.

So take a good look at your protagonist. What traits do they possess? What flaws? What virtues? How do these characteristics contribute to your story and deepen the character? If you can't answer these questions, it might be time to re-evaluate your character and focus more on giving them some of the characteristics they are lacking. Make sure it adds to your story, though. The whole point of this is to help your story be the best it can be, so whatever traits you give to your character need to be beneficial to the story you're writing.