Giving your Main Character authentic agency in any given situation can be tricky, but it’s so vital to how your reader will connect. Will they view your character as real, or will they be skeptical? The choices they make, and how they make those choices, are a huge part of authenticity.
Over the years of teaching writing, I’ve often heard people lament, “How do I know what choices my character will make?” One of my writer friends, Elaine Marie Alphin, who was a fantastic teacher as well, used to talk about having conversations with her characters while she was driving on long trips. Her characters would talk to her, and give her information about themselves and how they make choices.
I tried this. My characters weren’t interested in conversation. I had to come up with another way to know how they would choose.
Sometimes we feel like it’s the plot that’s pushing our protagonist, or even our own reactions as the author. But in order for their choices to feel authentic, and for kids to connect, all choices have to come from the MC themselves. Building your character to make real choices is a vital piece of character development.
In my teaching career, I’ve had extensive training and experience in Gifted Education. I’ve studied the work of Maureen Neihart, Psy.D., and implemented her methods to help kids reach their potential. I realized that her identification and analysis of risk tolerance in individuals fit hand in hand with character building as well. This was a tool I could use to see what choices my MC would make.
There are 5 areas of risk that we each face as we make choices – physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Within these areas of risk, we all have strengths and weaknesses. Based on the risk tolerance we have, our instincts will point us to make choices accordingly. Our characters are the same. Their Choice Index is grounded in their tolerance for risk.
In this video Choosing Risk, I explain the concept of risk tolerance in more detail, and help you see how to apply it to your character.
Being able to analyze how your MC views choices, and understand what their instinctual reactions will be, will help you keep their agency authentic. Plus, armed with this knowledge, you’ll be able to position your plot to be driven from the core of your character instead of the other way around.
So once you have a firmer grip on how your protagonist will make choices, how can you use that knowledge to help them change?
Strengthening the weak areas of risk, or controlling the strong areas of risk will lead to change in your character that feels real.
No person, or character, progresses while sitting in their comfort zone. Usually, at the beginning of a story, this is right where the protagonist is – the comfort zone. As writers, we have to get them out of that comfort zone, and make them take risks that they would rather not.
Pushing your protagonist to the edge of their competence will help them progress, but pushing in the wrong places can have the opposite effect. Sending your faint-hearted protagonist skydiving will feel disconnected unless that choice is made to fill the most vital of needs. Then, not only will the choice be real, but the scene will be explosive emotionally. Make those choices authentic.
In this PDF Growth at the Edge of Competence, you’ll be able to identify your MC’s risk tolerance and then think through how that knowledge can help you push them to authentic growth.
Giving your main character authentic agency, and pushing them to their edge of competence, will give your reader a strong connection.
Your book will stay in their hands.