STRENGTH AND AGENCY
by Lorin Oberweger
Recently, I taught a workshop on character agency—that force of will, the fire in a protagonist’s belly to effect change. When people talk about it, they’re basically expressing the idea that a character should have such a strong desire that they’re willing to break the shackles of their status quo and believe in themselves enough to go after what they want.
In developing material for the workshop, I created a list of questions worth considering, especially in terms of how we meet your protagonist, what we’re meant to feel about them, and what you promise in terms of that character being a force of change in the novel.
Here they are…
What’s your protagonist doing—first observable ACTION--when we first meet them?
What impression does that give the reader in terms of who your protagonist is and how activated they’ll be to solve their own problems?
How strong is the force of personality, as expressed in narrative voice? (This might be a great question for critique groups and/or beta readers.)
What is their first expression of an external desire—pursuit of a concrete item or outcome?
What is their first expression of an internal desire?
When do they first lay out a strategy for achieving what they want on a concrete level?
What specific resources do they have to help them achieve what they want in the story?
What is the first concrete/external obstacle they overcome?
What is the first internal obstacle they overcome?
When do they make the decision to keep pursuing their goals, when the going gets tough? (May be several points.)
What is their active role in the story climax?
How are they the ONLY ones who can bring about the ultimate resolution of the story?