Is Your Protagonist Too Lucky?
by Janice Hardy
If things always work out in your protagonist’s favor, you might have a contrived plot.
Getting a plot to unfold just the way you want it to can be challenging. Sometimes we get so locked on how it should go, that we force it to follow a certain path—even if there’s no reason for it to unfold that way at all. This can lead to lucky breaks for the protagonist that feel convenient at best, contrived at worst.
Contrived plots not only stretch plausibility, they also hurt an author’s credibility with readers. Readers trust us to tell them a solid tale, and they lose that faith if we cheat by forcing events to unfold in a way that allows our protagonists to win with no effort.
The incredibly lucky protagonist is probably the most common plot contrivance.
You’ve met them before. The sleuth who always overhears exactly what they need to break the case wide open. The hero who just happens to save the one minion in the bad guy’s army who knows the secret way into his inner sanctum. The love interests who always bump into each other for no reason. No matter what the situation, something helps the protagonist get what they need, and all they have to do is show up.
We don’t always realize we’re contriving our plot, because the forward movement is what the scene needs to work—the problem is that the protagonist did nothing to earn it, so there’s no conflict. Quite often there’s no goal, either, since a key piece of information drops into the protagonist’s lap out of the blue without them even looking for it.
Wait, isn’t that just good plotting?
Some folks argue that every story is contrived, because as writers, we manipulate what happens to tell our tale. On one hand this is true, but it’s how we manipulate events that determines how contrived a story reads.
For example, if we show our protagonist coming home from her karate class in the first few pages, it’s no surprise to readers when she’s able to fight off an attacker later. But if we mention she’s a black belt after the attack has been thwarted—or worse, comment that, “It was a good thing she’d just earned that black belt” during the attack, then the scene will likely feel contrived. The vital skill wasn’t in the story until it was needed.
That’s a key difference between plots that feel contrived and ones that feel plausible.
Coincidences happen, and it’s not uncommon to have one or two occur in a story to make the whole thing work, but they typically work best when the coincidence is what brings people together or triggers the novel’s conflict, not the force behind getting the protagonist out of trouble.
General rule of thumb:
If the contrivance hurts the protagonist, it’s usually okay. Contrivances that help the protagonist usually feel forced or overly convenient.
Let’s look at some common ways writers heap good luck on their protagonists:
Always being in the right place to overhear vital information:
You can get away with one of these in a book, but more than that stretches credibility—especially if there’s no reason for the protagonist to be where she hears the information.
Possible fixes:
Just give your protagonist a logical reason to be where they need to be to hear that information. However, if you have a lot of these in your story, cut a few and make the protagonist uncover this information on her own through other means, like hard work or investigative skills.
Taking a wrong turn or getting lost puts the protagonist where she needs to be:
These are particularly tricky, because they commonly come after a harrowing escape or chase scene that feels exciting, so it does seem like the protagonist “did something” to get there. But all she really did was happen across the right place by sheer luck, not because she worked to get there.
Possible fixes:
Give the protagonist a reason to go where she does. She might see a turn off she recognizes, or remembers something she uncovered earlier. Maybe she’s trying to get to a nearby location that will put her close enough to logically find the right spot.
Random people give the protagonist what she needs with no effort on her part:
This is one of the more common contrivances in a novel, because the protagonist is technically working toward her goal—it’s just that everyone she speaks to gives her what she needs, even if they have no reason to.
For example, the protagonist is at a dead-end in her investigation and stops at a random diner for lunch, but while talking to the waiter, he just “happens to know” exactly the information she was trying to discover all day.
Possible fixes:
Make the protagonist earn the information. Show skill or guile in interviewing witnesses or talking to people. Let some people not want to help her or even give her bad information. Remember, no one has a reason to help the protagonist, and some might even have reason not to. Think about how those characters, small as they are, would feel and act in this situation.
A problem is solved out of the blue right when the protagonist needs it:
The most common example here is the person with money trouble who receives an inheritance right when she needs it, but any unexpected “rescue” can be a problem. The protagonist finds herself in a situation that will take a lot of effort to get out of, but someone or something appears and either solves it, or makes it trivial to obtain success.
Possible fixes:
Give the protagonist a goal to work toward to solve the problem. If she needs money, she has to come up with a way to get it. If she’s stuck somewhere, she has to use her own ingenuity to get unstuck. Don’t give her the easy way out, make her work for it.
Bad guys constantly make mistakes that aid the protagonist:
The poor, unlucky villain who never catches a break falls into this category. The reason the protagonist wins is because the antagonist messes up; it’s not due to any effort on the protagonist’s part. What’s worse is that often the only way the protagonist can win is if the bad guys fail, so it’s not really a win. Had the protagonist not been there, the same outcome would have occurred.
Possible fixes:
Make the bad guys smart. Give them good ideas and solid plans to thwart the protagonist. Even if they’re just henchmen, their boss knows what to do and does it well. Force the protagonist to be smarter and cleverer than the bad guys.
An easy win weakens your protagonist and your story, so make them work to earn their victories.
Lay the groundwork for skills to be used later. Make them actively look for clues. Don’t have them “realize” important things out of the blue. Show how they managed to solve the puzzles and figure out the plot and readers will love them for it.
Is your protagonist too lucky? What examples of too-lucky protagonists have you seen?
* * * * * *
About Janice
Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins. She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy. When she's not writing fiction, she runs the popular writing site Fiction University, and has written multiple books on writing, including Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It), Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, and the Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft series. Sign up for her newsletter and receive 25 ways to Strengthen Your Writing Right Now free.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound
Leave a Reply
20 comments on “Is Your Protagonist Too Lucky?”
Tagged as:
Subscribe to WITS
Recent Posts
- Weathering Disruption with Creativity Intact
- The Paradox of Writing
- What do you need to distribute your books to stores?
- 5 Ways Authors Can Disrupt Their Marketing (in a Good Way)
- December Is A Time For Disruption!
Hi Janice,
Your fixes are fantastic! After reading your article I thought about a story I'm writing and it occurred to me that my antagonist has far too many serendipitous instances.
Thank you for helping make that clear!
Thanks, glad you found it helpful. It's such an easy thing to do when we're focused on the "this is how the plot happens."
I think sometimes we believe we are cleverly plotting a scene that really falls into one of the categories you mentioned. I'm raising my own hand with a giggle or two there. It would be a great item to add on my editing check list. Thanks for the reminder (and the fixes).
I bet you're right about that. We look more at the twist or the surprise and forget to really think about how we got there 🙂
These are super helpful tips! Thanks so much for sharing them! This definitely isn't something I often think about, but it makes SO much sense. I'll definitely be searching my manuscripts for implausible activities now!
Thanks! They can be hard to find on your own, since you know the work so well. Crit partners are great for spotting "too lucky" protagonists.
Hi Janice,
Making your protagonist earn each step that propels the plot does make for page turning reading.
I'm revisiting the unabridged audio book version of Ready Player One, focusing on the how the protagonist's struggles.
The story is full of impossi
ble situations (very different from the movie version that translates better to screen). But the author, Cline, does let 'Z', the protagonist, off the hook at times, typically when he is completing a goal through playing video games.
Granted the protagonist is solving problems through his past knowledge and his unique situation of proverty and being an orphan, but at times he just gets lucky and wins a game after 4 or so hours of continuous play without mistakes.On occasion, my reader brain sighs a breath of relief when Z gets a break - it means I didn't have to get too boggled down with procedural video game details!
Thanks for the actionable posts. I appreciate being able to clearly identify places to up tension in my writing!I love it when you share on WITS.
Kris
It's been a awhile since I read RP1, but I think I had the same issues. It's a fun book, but it seemed like the pop culture refences were more important than the actual story. It's one of the few instances where I felt the movie was better.
Thanks! Always fun to visit WITS 🙂
Good post. It is always something the writer should be aware of when writing any turn of event that comes in favor of a hero or villain (let's give equal billing-especially if talking about a 'smart' villain).
It reminds me of one device I particularly fretted over in my first book, involving an ordinary "universal" tv/dvd/vcr remote which uses common infrared technology that conveniently uses a "close enough" frequency to that of a control wand the aliens use to open & close the barriers holding them captive.
While I establish the aliens, although far advanced, are overly confidant and never see my main characters as any threat–and thus have a vulnerability–I don't really reflect my characters' noticing the wands until just prior to the reveal about their tv remote's ability to clone the signal. In part, of course, the prospect of overpowering a guard to obtain one would naturally seem reckless to them. But they never think of it themselves. It is only my MC's nine year old grandson, who only learns how to program the "universal" remote to replace his old tv remote, and who–being a naive youth–even considers the possibility it'd be compatible.
I felt comfortable with this latter aspect of the reveal, although gave it special note in my author's notes about the technologies used (there are rational explanations why it could have been compatible), even though it still felt like luck.
Thanks! I'd be fine with that if I read it. There's science that's universal (no pun intended) and it makes logical sense to me that an infrared signal would have multiple uses. And a child figuring it out also feels logical, because they aren't constrained by "the rules" like adults are.
I also think there's a difference between contrived and believable, even if there is a bit of a coincidence. Your situation is believable, because you established why it would work. You didn't just have someone pick up a remote and have it magically fix the problem.
Wonderful article and tips! Thanks so much!
You're most welcome!
Great information, Janice! I have to watch for this in my own writing. When I see things getting a little too easy... I try to make it harder on them. This strengthens the plot and makes the story more engaging!
It does indeed 🙂 These things happen in a first draft when we're just trying to get the story down, but it's worth the time to find and find them in drafty two.
You've said it - it's lazy writing.
One coincidence per 200K words - and that's pushing it, because it means I haven't been able to figure out ANY way to plot it.
I positively hate coincidences - even though I let Margaret Mitchell have hers in the opening chapters of GWTW, when Scarlett overhears things she shouldn't. IIRC, there aren't that many in the rest of the book, which is pretty grim and realistic in its settings and events, and therefore can afford Scarlett.
Me, I don't have the whole Civil War as a beneficent background, so I don't allow myself those little indulgences.
As you pointed out, it usually isn't THAT hard to come up with something perfectly possible and plausible, if a little outré, that works just as well.
I think it's my JOB as the writer.
It's not uncommon to have a coincidence as the inciting event, as strange things do happen to trigger a situation, but more than that usually makes the reader roll their eyes. We can do better!
I also suspect some coincidences actually have reasons, but they never made it to the page. It made sense to the author, but what would make it make sense to the reader just didn't get into the story.
These fixes are lovely, because I am consistently too nice to my characters. I don't do a lot of lucky coincidences, but I definitely need to make them work harder, and be a bit meaner to them.
Ah, I see you have Nice Writer Syndrome (grin). Don't think of it as being mean to them--think of it as tough love! lol. They need that to be better people and get what will make them happy. It's for their own, good. 🙂
great advice
Thanks!