I've recently been talking and guest-posting about the importance of ensuring our
protagonists evolve and grow through the choices and decisions they make
throughout the course of their stories. Whether these choices and decisions are
compelled by something awful (the protagonist up against a threat with no
apparent choice) or by something terrific (the protagonist seeing the means to
achieve and go for their goal), it's the choices and decisions our protagonists
make that go into defining who they are, add solidity to what they're made of,
and instill a drive to face new things when they think they've faced everything
they can possibly face.
Talking
and writing about how the most memorable and most compelling protagonists make
choices and decisions all the time, I've caught myself wondering about the
sorts of choices and decisions I make in my own life. Do the choices and
decisions I make go into defining who I am? Do the choices and decisions I make
add solidity to what I'm made of? Do the choices and decisions I make instill
in me a drive to face new things—things that may take me out of my comfort
zone, things that may make me fearful, things that make me someone more complex
than the person I was the day before? Sure I do...sometimes. Once in a while.
Not often enough. Certainly not enough, I realize, to be most memorable and
most compelling protagonist if I were the main character in a story.
Is it
possible we're instilling in our protagonists the abilities, attributes, and
drives we may not ourselves have but wish we had? Is it possible we're putting
our protagonists into positions where they have to make seemingly impossible
choices and decisions that will result in seemingly impossible repercussions in
order to test our own boundaries and definitions of what's truly impossible?
Is it possible we're forcing our protagonists to face their ultimate "what
if?" questions so we can explore how we might behave and react when
faced with our own ultimate "what if?" questions? Absolutely!
I think this is what writers do all the time—not only do writers write to
express and explore the stories inside their heads and hearts, but to express
and explore the stories of ourselves, our humanity, our boundaries, and our
capacities.
Though it may not feel like it, all of us, at varying degrees and at varying
times, are in positions to make—and do make—the kinds of choices and
decisions we ask of our protagonists. Some of the positions in which we find
ourselves making choices and decisions will be awful, some will be terrific.
Some of the positions in which we find ourselves making choices and decisions
will feel utterly impossible, some will feel easy. It's from all of these experiences and how we
respond to them that we evolve. And it's from all of these experiences that we write our characters and our
stories, putting what we know to be true of ourselves and humanity onto the
page for readers to find themselves and discover truths.
I
want to be a person who makes choices and decisions that matter, that have
repercussions larger than me. I want to be a person who makes choices and
decisions that help me on a meaningful path of growth and continuing evolution,
no matter how old I am. So when I need inspiration and confidence to keep
making those kinds of choices and decisions, I feel lucky to be able to look
not only to those people whom I consider to be role models and mentors, but
also to protagonists in all sorts of stories.
(c) drydenbks LLC 2015
