Comments on: 10 Tips For a Strong Protagonist https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/ A Blog On Writing Sun, 02 Feb 2025 06:07:52 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1 By: Helen Mongillo https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96358 Sun, 11 Oct 2015 23:09:27 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96358 In reply to SD Writer.

Thanks Shannon. My protag starts out mean to my nice but quirky side kick because of fear of embarrassment around the popular crowd. This isn't that unrealistic a scenario for middle grade kids, but perhaps the protagonist should be the nice but quirky girl rather than the jerk since she would be easier to root for. I'm trying to get the reading audience to root for a shallow and materialistic boy hoping he will learn to see the true value of things but it is like having a bully as the protagonist and trying to get people to sympathise with him and watch while he learns to become nicer through the road of hard knocks. Like writing a book from the POV of Draco Malfoy. A bit challenging to get readers on board with that.

]]> By: SD Writer https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96352 Sun, 11 Oct 2015 21:03:34 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96352 In reply to Helen Mongillo.

Helen, keep in mind there are flaws and then there are FLAWs. If you show a protagonist shooting someone really awful, the reader will be okay because the really awful person did enough to merit that. But if the protagonist just shoots someone, the reader is less likely to be okay with that. So it's not just flaws, it's degrees and motivations.

]]> By: Jenny Hansen https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96154 Wed, 07 Oct 2015 19:37:49 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96154 In reply to Helen Mongillo.

Smart move, Helen! It's like a mini-seminar on protagonists here at WITS this week. I love it when happy accidents like this happen. 🙂

]]> By: Helen Mongillo https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96151 Wed, 07 Oct 2015 19:25:53 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96151 I thought I'd come read this bog before I read Les Edgerton's. So glad I did. An agent just passed on my manuscript after 50 pages because she found my protagonists flaws too off putting. Darn. And in my first draft my assessor said he needed flaws so...I went too far. Thank you for the point about balance and likeability. I also never thought about giving him lines an actor would hug me for. Awesome perspective. Tris Prior in Divergent. There were times she needed a smack but I definitely rooted for her.

]]> By: The Job of Protagonists & Antagonists | Writers In The Storm https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96100 Wed, 07 Oct 2015 11:03:03 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96100 […] week at WITS we are on a roll with the key characters in your story. Monday was 10 Tips for a Strong Protagonist from Shannon Donnelly. Today is a fantastic in-depth post from Les Edgerton. His last article for […]

]]> By: SD Writer https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96088 Wed, 07 Oct 2015 04:02:43 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96088 In reply to Lynda Jo.

Laura Kinsale believes all romances are really about heroes--it's true in her books. But you really want one protagonist for a strong character/story arc.

]]> By: Fae Rowen https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96049 Tue, 06 Oct 2015 19:54:13 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96049 You really hit the mark with this post, Shannon. Thank you for a great teaching lesson!

]]> By: Jenny Hansen https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96046 Tue, 06 Oct 2015 16:29:22 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96046 In reply to ramblingsfromtheleft.

I LOVED Pippi as a kid too, Florence! And Eve Dallas...Peabody...Roarke...all the characters in that series are so finely drawn. 🙂

]]> By: Pizzos3.com https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96037 Tue, 06 Oct 2015 15:54:16 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96037 Great Post. Love all the detail developing the information. If only... if only I could remember and practice each one in each of my WIP I would be published all over the place. Thanks

]]> By: ramblingsfromtheleft https://writersinthestormblog.com/2015/10/10-tips-for-a-strong-protagonist/#comment-96025 Tue, 06 Oct 2015 14:27:03 +0000 https://writersinthestormblog.com/?p=22291#comment-96025 Shannon, I am a day late and a dollar short all month ... but playing catch-up with you and WITS is a worthy endeavor. Love this post. It reminds us of the stuff we love about strong characters. Reading since five and falling in love with Pippi Longstocking and then Nancy Drew ... picking one is impossible. But our Queen of Romance has a tremendous character in her mystery series as J.D. Robb and in In Death series. ... Eve Dallas 🙂

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