Writing Main Characters: How to Handle Multiple Protagonists
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.ค. 2019
- Does your book have multiple protagonists? There a few trucks that you need to know. These will help you create amazing main characters and keep your readers engaged.
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authors: use sentence structure, flow, different devices and words to differentiate between characters
me: puts the character's name on top of the page
😂
it worked for Rick Riordan tbf
Wattpad strat
Wait your not supposed to do that????
I’ve been doing it cause PJO and WoF did it 😦
@@skykidddragonfly2812 no, its a good thing to do, just make sure its not the only thing you do, follow the advice mentioned in this video in where each character has their own voice and view and etc
I love that 'inner Stephen King' motto cause I've always felt that everyone has an inner genius most people just dont know how to channel it or were taught to suppress it.
Thank for the video. I’m struggling through my first book and have four main characters with one being the main main character. I knew most of what you were saying on some subconscious level, but it is SO SUPER helpful to hear it out loud and have it forced into my conscious mind. Keep lighting the way, my fellow writing nerd brother.
Steven Stringfellow same!
Writing nerd brother! I like it!
I've got four main protagonists in different countries, so this was video really helpful too!
How far are you in your book?
I am struggling with the same thing four main characters with a plot twist it is so hard to navigate the book for myself !
This vid made me realize that in my novel (proceeds from which I'm currently living on), I unconsciously did something very right while writing my characters. I have to main characters, one of whom frequently daydreams about the past that he misses and the future he lusts for, while the other main character avoid thinking of the past, never thinks about the future, and is pretty much always focused on the problem immediately in front of him. This creates a palpable difference in the tone and feel of their POV chapters.
This is incredible! Writing a scene three times through three different characters would be a super fun project! I play with a little bit of this because I'm having my characters tell a PI what happened as a flashback in first person.
If you want to dive deeper into that concept, Peter S. Beagle wrote a novel in excatly that style (multiple POVs, all ego, scenes told multiple times through diffrent characters) called "The Innkeeper's Song". Bram Stoker's Dracula is pretty similar to this as well.
I am trying to write my first story with 7 main characters (of course, one main main character) and possible 3 villains.
Dumb decision, but I want to go through it anyways for personal reasons. This video helps me make sure I am on the right track.
RandomMindz Well, I am also currently writing a book with 7 main characters. I regulate it by introducing them at a very slow pace, the reader knows almost nothing about two of them and I introduced them at about 60%, and one of the others dies so I have very much movement in my story. The problem is that I have not chosen a main main character because I don't know enough about writing and now I'm struggling to rewrite it, choose a mmc and put some development in my characters (there is, but I understand now that at least the mmc should have a lot more). I was about 85% finished... I should have watched this sooner.
Literally me too
@Spodo bbb Hey,
Please note that this advice is coming from an amateur writer, I have some experience though, especially since I'm still juggling with all those arcs.
But in your case, I would try to make a clean cut. I'm assuming that you have one story arc finished and either have another one unfinished or want to start an entirely new objective. I'm trying to look at this from a reader's perspective. I now am accostumed to your first five characters, since I read the first story. I am of course expecting them to carry the story in the sequel too, or at least have a part in it. But I'm also open to new characters. I don't know if you're writing POVs? If you're writing five / eight POVs, I would start the sequel with the POV of an intriguing new character. This suggests to the reader that there are more new characters to come so he won't be surprised.
There are a few things to think about:
Do your new characters have their own arc? Do they meet your other characters; at the beginning or later? Which perspective are you using to introduce them?
In my opinion, your question mostly boils down to the introduction; it's then when the reader decides if he accepts them. And it's then when the reader decides if he will miss your old characters throughout the story. You could start with the new characters and then crash the scene, for real or metaphorically, with the old ones to show you didn't forget about them and they will also have arcs of their own.
How separate are your new and old characters arcs? Do they link much?
An interesting introduction method I tried before is one which you could also use to add a few new shades to the light of your first characters. By letting the new ones or one of them see them or one of them from an outsider's POV, the reader gets a grasp on then very quickly. The interesting aspect of that is that you simultaneously develop the reader's understanding of your old characters through the outside POV and present them with the thoughts or acts of the new characters towards them; it's the beginning of their relationship, friend or foe? Trust or second thoughts? They don't even have to interact.
Another way to do this is by letting them think about the problem that the first characters faced already. Like that, you're indirectly comparing the new characters with the old ones, and the reader will do that too; unconsciously. You don't need to worry that the arc of your old characters won't be developing if you try to focus on the new characters but at the same time at least hint at a comeback of the old ones, build up the plot in the background (which is possible since the reader can easily follow it if they know the characters already) or try to split the story 50/50. I wouldn't focus on the older characters more at first because the reader needs to get to know the new ones quickly to get comfortable with reading about them. Maybe focus on the new characters more at first but slowly build up the old characters from anew. By letting the new characters think about the same objectives for example from time to time you won't be abandoning your old one's arcs automatically.
In my experience, compared to your new characters, which the reader doesn't know at all, your old characters have a huge benefit. You don't really need to introduce them and the reader as well as you yourself has developed a feeling for what the character would or wouldn't do. The reader may be confronted with some new information about the character, but they feel comfortable reading about them, they don't need to process huge bouts of information. I think you don't need to worry about the story arc of your old characters that much because the reader will likely not have much of a problem following it.
I hope this helps a bit.
@Spodo bbb I don't think it will feel rushed if there's a clean cut (starting the sequel with the new characters), because you don't break in the arc of the established characters. (Sorry if I'm phrasing some things weirdly btw, English isn't my mother tongue).
How did you start the first story, the first arcs? Probably didn't feel rushed either. With your new characters it's the same, focus on building their arc and let the established characters wander from "important background arcs" to really including them with the new characters, if you need that for your sequel. That's what I would try to do.
Well, if I remember clearly, Harry Potter starts with introducing a very small circle of main characters by following Harry himself, he meets new characters nearly ranked by their importance. The other characters appear very quickly, but for each of them, the introduction is what matters. The main characteristics of side characters like Hagrid are very quickly established (and the characteristics of the mains too, often in their first words/actions) and the reader/watcher forms a first opinion quickly, even if it may change later on.
I think that's important because in the moment the reader forms an opinion about a character, he won't forget details about the character as easily and gets intrigued by their arc, no matter of like or dislike.
In Harry Potter, there's mainly one story arc at first, the one of Harry. When I think about it, this one story arc starts to scatter, right? As soon as the characters for certain side arcs are established as much as needed, the reader gets to follow them on their background arcs. Right?
But it's been a while since I read that. I think building story arcs is a bit like spinning webs, there are knots where the characters meet and if you strengthen a character enough, you can lead the readers on their thread to the next knots. You can't follow a weakly built character very well.
But I'm no expert. If you learned something about juggling this many character arcs, let me know, I'm learning too ':D
@Spodo bbb Yeah, that's what I mean :D
Your idea of team building in season one sounds really good, I like that concept :)
What are you writing about? Now that we're discussing the theory I'm intrigued to know the theme of the story :D
My story will follow up to 20+ main characters and as the story goes on, certain characters will go in and out of focus as MCs. The main characters will consist of good guys, antiheroes, and villains, so whomever I choose to follow, the story will cater to their perspective and morals. I also don't like the idea of sticking to a first person or third person narrative constantly. I'll be alternating between them, so certain character's goals and ideas will be questioned; leading to uncertainty and tension among everyone. These tips are really helpful.
My story has 8ish protagonists but my story is narrated by a dead character who has an overview of everything and can speak to the characters. She’s basically the voices in their heads. That way I can share the story in the least biased way while still knowing how the characters think and feel because she can going inside their minds. I’ve chosen to have 8 protagonists because they’re all very complex and other characters may not know that my antagonist is actually the antagonist.
My debut novel Vinterkrig (A swedish fantasy novel) has 10 POVs. It is a well written book that has got a few good reviews, but I feel the sequel will have less POVs.
Link? Sounds dope
Thank you so much, man! I always hear "give your characters their own voice" but nobody has explained why to me.
These videos are really helpful. I’m struggling with a screenplay because I have essentially two main characters. The issue is there’s a Groundhog Day aspect where time restarts from a certain point. And only 1 main character is aware of it. So one main character has a positive change arch throughout the story. And depending on how they act in each time line the second main character develops a different way. This works for the overall Philosophical stakes of the film, but it’s hard to make it fit in traditional story structure.
10:00
My take on Hermione's POV if much like when I was a kid, and I needed to look up a word in the dictionary. It never ended with one word, I would spot a word in the definition I didn't know, so I would look that up; a dozen or so words later... I once looked up "the".
So the challenge of writing Hermione, is that she's a catalogue of information; she READS!!! Try this...
"X spell" does this this and this, can be modified by this and this, but not that. It is resisted by this spell this potion and these creatures. Because not to x y and z.
"X modification spell"...
I'll save you a full chapter and skip to the part of Hermione grinning in near orga... exposition satisfaction.
I'd like to add to your point on main main character that if you don't decide one for yourself (even though most of us do subconsciously) your fans are going to do it for you. Best example would be in ASOIAF, where it's clear that Ned Stark was GRRM's main main character but in subsequent sequels the fans naturally chose who they thought would be their main main character themselves. Some people have settled on Jon Snow (most people probably), Daenerys, or even Tyrion but I'm personally in team Arya on that front and she's always the POV I look forward to the most.
Also, main main characters are fluid things. Just because one character seems more important to the overarching plot in the beginning doesn't mean that they're going to remain so throughout the entirety of the story. This ironically gave me a great idea for a story that I will be writing soon. Thanks for that unintended effect that just had on me.
Edit: added parenthesis
Your points are well said. That's the risk you run with multi-character stories. But it's also part of the fun to see which characters readers choose as their main---can help you determine how to write the rest of the series. Glad the video helped you reach a revelation!
The point you made about how the words look on a page is excellent, and I will apply this to my current novel. You also have a great grasp of each Harry Potter character too, which is awesome. Great video.
Glad it was helpful!
As usual, very well presented. Thank you!!
Great advice!!! I have multiple MC's, and I definitely follow the clarity and one POV per chapter rules. I've read a few books in first person where there's not much of a break between POVs and then you don't know who is talking next for a while, sometimes a full page!! It was SO annoying and ruined the story for me. All of my chapters are just titles as their names. So it's clear and obvious who is talking in that chapter.
Naming the chapters as your character name is a smart tip and very easy to do. :)
Subscribed, thanks so much for the help!
Love the specific examples you discuss! Thanks
This helped a lot, thank you!!!
Thanks for the insightful tips, it really helps with my dream.
Thank you for the video, just subscribed
Thank you so much I'm learning a lot as always!
Thanks for the video. Love the tips!
Very good thank you, your video is really helping
Thank you!
man this is incredible. Just discovered your channel, quite marvelous. Subscribed!
Thank you! 😃
Good stuff, thank you
You're insanely talented and kindddd ughhh
Thank you for the video. I'm working on a manga with multiple main characters. This was very helpful.
I love your articulate voice. I seek to emulate this on my podcast
Thank you, Micheal. 😀
Thanks! Got 3 main characters on their own journeys but overall the same quest. Trying hard to have district POV. Slowly getting there
Good tips
Ah, Mr. La Ronn. I really find your tips helpful. Your channel is going to save me. Thank you.
Hi, i just stumbled upon your channel and wanted to thank you for doing this.
Sure, not every advice is golden but channels like yours help me becoming better at writing.
I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge, keep up the good work.
Omg thank you so much! I've been planning my series in the same style you mentioned you did for your series- each book is a different character and in the end they come together. But I was worried people might be upset without a main main to follow. And I think I figured out which one that main one is!
I understand that I probably can't write every scene from every point of view...but I think one doesn't have to be the MAIN MAIN but maybe the new person in town so we begin with their POV to introduce the reader to the world
I'm writing a story in third person with four protagonists. There's a main character in the beginning, but the focus slowly drifts to someone else whose internal conflicts begin to intertwine with the main plot. In the end, everyone gets a slice of the glory, but each protagonist carries the story in a different way. I thought it would be too much to have four of them, but I can't remove anyone or else an essential element of the story is lost. Thank you for the advice! This will definitely help me write something that actually makes sense.
Very smart
Excellent
This is good and should help me up the ladder re: struggling to write and organise character POV's so they make sense, maintain tension and don't interrupt the flow. I've subscribed!
Great!
Thank you so much. I agree with you much more than other writing advisers. I am also looking to draw similarities and comparisons between principles of good writing with principles of design, especially principles of the fine arts of painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and ceramics. Thank you.
This so informative. Boy though, I wish someone do this for screenplays/pilots that's what I'm writing and this Is my goal. :|
Wicked helpful. Thanks for the video! Could you possibly discuss the pros/cons/tips of writing multiple protagonists in the 3rd person POV vs 1st person?
Great suggestion!
DNA! [7:33] I love it.
Yo, I’m trying to write one with eight!🤯 although I might be able to pull it off with this help. Thanks!
Aye same!
Mine has a about nine, and I was really stressing about that but this video might be able to help me too
I like writing (and reading) stories with multiple POVs and multiple Protagonists. Normally I try to handle groups of characters with a similar goal als one character for the sake of planning and devide the necesary scenes between them. To reach clarity I have one simple, but non-negotiable rule: Name the POV-character in the first sentence of their first paragraph in the chapter. Break up each switch optically by either a chapter break or some other visual indication (I use a line with *** in it for this). The rest normally becomes clear by the actions, thoughts and even the space the characters are in. In my current novel the main characters are a lawyer, a police inspector, a prison warden and a convict. They all have pretty diffrent freedoms of movement in the story (even though the spaces are overlapping), so telling a scene within the police station for example already indicates that it's likely the police inspector speaking.
The other person with a direct contact to that space for more than one scene is the warden, and those two have very distinct voices. The inspector is an observer-type, philantropic but also distant to the things happening around him, while the warden is an egocentric daddy-child with a hot temper. This shows in their thoughts, behaviour and especially dialogue (sadly, dialogue doesn't convey POV).
Omg thanks it's 2022 and I'm fourteen, I am currently writting a book called The Bravery Trio: Crypt Of Keys, and I have three main characters.
My book has over a dozen characters with at least one chapter written from their perspective. It may be only a short one for many, but they all get a little time. There isn't really a (main) main character. Some start big and suddenly die, others start as side characters and then improve.
I know it may be difficult for readers and I have to give my characters more distinctive voices when I edit the story. I guess I should reduce it a bit and see whose POV can be cut, but when I tried while writing, it didn't feel right.
It's just the way I read stories or watch movies. I don't like to be told who is important and who is not. So I try not to tell others.
Currently I'm working on a novel where I'm planning to put two protagonists.
It focuses on a guy and hid brother who get seperated. The guy becomes an antagonistic figure to the world and once he would reunite with his brother, his brother also sees him as an antagoidt due to their same goal but different ideals. But he doesn't nessecsrily hate this "antagonist" but this "antagonist" hates him cuz he sees what he could've been if things were different.
Over here, the antagonistic protagonist is my MAIN main character. So I dedicated my first arc, the first nine chapters, to him; to his separation, to the formation of new bonds and the formation of his resolve. The two made a promise to turn their broken world into a place where their kind can live with smiling faces. (their kind are looked down upon a lot)
The other guy is forced into a situation where he knows that his brother is alive but he has to fight against him because of their conflicting methods. Over here, I plan to only dedicate certain chapters to him. Either that or dedicate almost the same number of chapters as the other guy and lead p to their confrontation.
Thoughts?
Thanks a lot for this video! I've got two main characters, one main main character that I switch bewtween their POVs.
I want to ask though, is it okay to occasionally introduce the POV of other characters for only once? Or is it something I have to keep consistent with
In my WIP story I have two main characters - a socially awkward and self-doubting guy and a professional monster hunter girl who has been training since she was 5 years old. They have very different personalities, different viewpoints, different values. When the girl learns about the guy from his personal dossier, she is disgusted by him, by his miserable lifestyle. However, she was ordered to become his mentor, to teach and train him, and even though she absolutely hated this idea, she followed the given order. Throughout the story they have to work together, figuring out their own issues and resolving them, slowly becoming closer to eachother.
Clarity comes first no matter what!
Hello, I wanted to first say that this is a very insightful video. The question I have is that I initially planned to write the book from a single POV. I wanted to convey the perspective of a character who is blind. Would it be acceptable to introduce a new POV in chapter 5, despite having used only one character's POV until then?
I'm in the middle of The Expanse - Book 3 by James S.A. Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) and they handle multiple protagonists in such a rigid style that they literally label each chapter with the character's name that represents the POV for each chapter. As you read, it's very clear whose POV your viewing through. I didn't go this route with my current novel that has five main protagonists. Instead, I'm following the style used by J.R.R. Tolkein in the Hobbit / Lord of the Rings series where an individual character is shown through third-person limited and the group POV is shown through third-person omniscient. I am finding the omniscient view is working quite well for my group of five protagonists as they share their adventure among themselves. But then I switch to 3rd-limited to show the thoughts of individual character independent of the group thoughts. I added this comment because you didn't suggest the use of the 3rd omniscient as an option for multiple protagonists.
Man I couldn't even pay attention because I was waiting for him to blink!! I saw him blink twice in the first minute and a half! WTF?
even though I probably missed one or two I feel like he's staring through my soul
This is very timely video for me. I'm outlining a story with multiple protagonists and it's fairly headache inducing. I'm curious what you think about the idea of using close 3rd person limited with italicized thoughts for one or two main main characters and when I need a chapter in the perspective of some "Red Shirt" or from an antagonist's perspective, (to set the stage and clue the reader into what's to come for the sake of suspense), writing those chapters in distant/objective 3rd person limited without any italicized thoughts.
Your voice is nice.
The one small disagreement I have with this advise is that "one POV per scene" is more flexible but equally as effective as "one POV per chapter". The word choice and smart narrative will make the POV change clear enough.
I love that its a black man doing this. Two under represented groups in this industry
I have six MCs and a good deal of book one's plot will be about how they end up meeting. My issue is I really want to do the "one chapter per MC" thing, but I'm concerned that this'll be rather sporadic. I'm grouping them up, does this sound like a good idea to apply this technique to?
There’s no right or wrong way. Your North Star is preventing confusion. However you decide to accomplish that is up to you. But you do have a Herculean task with six characters. I’ve done it. Just takes a lot of careful attention to keep the reader interested. Good luck.
When I first started writing, I was criticized for too many perspectives by switching between just two POV characters with occasional chapters about the villains.
I want to suggest that you stick with one character until they meet the other MCs and then have the other MCs tell their story to the main protagonist or something like that if it turns out to be vital to the plot. Origin stories are one of those things that seem necessary to us as writers but usually aren't to readers until they're already invested in the characters.
Imagine, for example, you were reading Harry Potter and the author decided to devote 4 chapters to Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Neville each about how they discovered witchcraft before finally describing the boat ride to Hogwarts on page 400. That would be ridiculous and unnecessary, and it would be challenging for the author to keep my attention without anything happening in the plot for that long. Not to mention that when the perspective went back to Harry, I might have forgotten important details about him during the 300 pages about the other students.
I'm using Harry Potter as a well-known example, but I've beta read and reviewed books that did that and have never enjoyed it.
God this is helpful
I'm trying to write a story with like 7 main characters and it's driving me nuts 😭
I have projects with multiple mcs due to wanting to wear thr skins of all the characters.
I have one issue with when characters and events converge. I don't like to rehash events or skim over what would be important for the other characters. Any ideas?
As always, to notch advice.
I have a story that has a lot of side story, even the villain is a hero in the side story, but a villain in the main story. But it's kinda hard
I have a story in which a character goes into a alternate universe and interacts with their other self. How do you write such interactions without confusing/annoying the reader? I thought of using a nickname or surname but I don't want to resort to that just yet.
I'm writing a story about the zodiac signs which means I'll have to write 12 main characters
How would you advise I go about it ?
Watch Fruits Basket
I'd say give them a lot of identity and don't be afraid to make it funny because where you might lack in depth (which will be a consequence of not writing EXTREMELY long books where you can flesh each of them out) you can make up in personality and humor. I'd actually say for any story where depth isn't present yet, you should try to bring out a certain theme or aspect of your story. Lean into it, and let the reader be mesmerised by it until you've built things up to the extent where they love all the other things you've sprinkled throughout your story as well.
Best example of this is probably Percy Jackson & the Olympians. The story starts off pretty basic with humor and some drama, then it leans into its themes heavily with Greek mythology which garners the love of fans of Greek mythology only to then smack you in the face with all the great characterization it's been hiding everywhere.
12 is way to much
Cloud Atlas has several mcs. David divided it into story parts/timeline to stages and converged.
Is more books possible?
I am writing my second book and I am discovering that I cannot write without two main characters. I am a middle grade writer and in my first book "The world of all things lost"., the two girls in my book journey together. I couldn't do without the interaction between the two best friends. I one the main character and the other a supporting character? No. They are both equally important and in my book, there's a diversity issue here.; One of two is white and the other is black. I was very clear that both of them were equally Important. In my next book, not yet complete, I tried to have one main character but it wasn't long before I had to be introduce another character to share the journey. It wasn't working for me just to have one. You are right Michael and n what you say but for me, more than one main character is the only way I can write ✍️.
Can I use a villain's perspective and still hide his identity in plain sight? I usually write in first person , so I don't know how to hide his identity and still write his pov
Could you make a video on free microsoft word alternatives?
I would do something similar, and I know that I would start the entire thing off with Hermione because her perspective would be in the muggle world, than Harry who would be a cross between the two, than Ron, because you'd get a full dose of what the Magical world is like.
Why change Pov just because the focus of the narrative arch shifts to highlight a different character? This is unnecessary if you use 3rd person omniscient POV, which allows the author to maintain a consistent narrative voice and avoids shifting POV as the narrative and action shifts between main characters and even settings.
Hermione would be the most fun to write :)
Totally agree!
Clarity like... naming your chapter after the protagonist you're writing about? Personally I love chapter names. I know this is a video game but the Uncharted series has some of the best chapter names I've ever seen (Harry Potter also), I think it can be confusing though if you decide to switch characters on a chapter to chapter basis. Maybe having a theme in the chapter naming. Like one character has references to water, or something along those lines. I dunno, that's something to think about. Would make it so that the reader has to interpret the name of the chapter too before reading, which is something that is easily glossed over oftentimes.
Yep, I've done chapter names, too. They're a lot of fun. No right or wrong way. And yes, Uncharted was a fantastic series. I'm still waiting on Naughty Dog to bring my boy Jak back! :)
@@AuthorLevelUp we're sort of getting Crash back soon so who knows :P
Nah, the Crash reboot doesn’t do anything for me. I’ll only accept it again if Naughty Dog does it. Same with Jak.
@@AuthorLevelUp I'm with you but I'm not gonna completely dismiss it either. This studio I've never heard of might just succeed and if they do, kudos. I even gave the utterly terrible 360 games a chance (although I do regret that so it's not really reinforcing my stance here).
Describe a section break, thnx, no idea what it is?
i have 20 main characters....I'm ded
Do you blink?