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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Character Development

So, I guess we'll be talking about Character Development. It's one of my favorite parts of writing. :D 

Creating a Protagonist...

Creating a protagonist is pretty easy to do - despite all of the details. What makes a good protagonist? 

  • Flaws.
  • Courage.
  • The will to both lead and follow.
Those are but a few things that make a good protagonist. You probably noticed the word 'flaws' at the top of that list. Protagonists are people just like you and I. We aren't perfect, we all have flaws - some minor, some major. So why make a 'perfect' protagonist? To me, that would be plain annoying. He/she is always right about everything, wins every argument, and is the boldest, bravest person you could ever imagine. Yeah...doesn't sound too good. Slap your protagonist with a few flaws that mess him/her up. Maybe your character has problems with anger, or discouragement, or emotion, or sadness for the loss of a loved one. Many possibilities there.
A good protagonist needs some courage, too; no, not the 'I can do everything' courage, the 'I'm not afraid to fight, no matter the consequences' courage. But not too much courage. Your character will sound like a really self-indulged person if you do that. 
A good protagonist also needs the will to both lead and follow. By this I mean he/she must understand when is the right time to lead, and when is the right time to follow. Sometimes your character must be the leader - sometimes the follower. 

Again: Flaws, courage, and the will to both lead and follow.

Creating an Antagonist...

Mwahaha... I love villains. What makes a good antagonist?
  • Flaws (already explained).
  • A reason to be evil.
  • MINIONS!
Flaws have already been explained.
By 'a reason to be evil', I mean, 'a reason to be evil'. Why is your antagonist evil? Most of this was explained in the last post (about writing). So... read that post.
MINIONS! Every villain needs minions. Whether it be orcs, trolls, ogres, certain small yellow creatures, etc. I guess minions aren't a necessity, but they're recommended from my perspective. :P

That's it...finally.

~CNGoodhue

2 comments:

  1. Nice job, CN! I like how you brought up that the protagonist needs flaws :)

    Hmm...looks like your blog just got another follower by the name of Kya ;D

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kya! :D

      I see that it has... ;P Once again, thanks! :)

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