The Perils of a Passive Protagonist

Warns about the pitfalls of creating characters who aren't able to take readers into the thick of the action.

Historical and speculative novelist K.M. Weiland offers tips and essays about the writing life to help other writers understand the ins and outs of the craft and the psychology behind the inspiration.

http://wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com
http://www.kmweiland.com

Intro music by Kevin MacLeod: http://incompetech.com/

Category:

Education

Tags:

• protagonist
• educational

[TheBloodyBlackJackal]

Twilight totally FAILED this...

[KMWeiland]

@TheBloodyBlackJackal Great example.

[scifiwritir1]

I think the passive protag can work if the story is short and deals with the internal stresses of said passive character. There's something very wonderful reading about a character who is stressed and trapped in a kind of stasis but burning up inside because all they can do is react...if that. This isn't easily done because most long stories require action. But when it's done in a short story, it works so well.

[KMWeiland]

@scifiwritir1 I agree. The key is to make certain even passive characters are present for the majority of the action. Even if he's unable to act himself, he needs to be able to show the readers what's going on, rather than having it relayed to them secondhand. But, as you say, this generally works best in shorter pieces.

[DpwCreative]

What if the protagonist is a scared wimp in the beginning, but becomes more confident and throws himself in the action later on? I don't mean at the end, but before the middle of the book?

[KMWeiland]

@DpwCreative That shouldn't be a problem at all. Characters need to start out with flaws, both so they'll be relatable to the readers and so they'll have bad traits to overcome later in the story. The problem I'm talking about here isn't so much characters who are cowardly or inefficient (that only becomes a problem if the character never overcomes his fears), so much as it is characters who aren't on the scene of the action. Let him be *actively* wimpy, not just passively.

[KMWeiland]

@ApivotZ Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy the vids. Your description of "the wimp" pretty much sums up the problems of the passive protagonist. Readers don't appreciate "superman" characters who are indomitable, but I think most of us would rather err on the side of larger than life, rather than insufferable inefficient characters.

[ApivotZ]

I love your videos they're awesome, you deserve more views!

The your describing is what i always call "the wimp" I run into him/her quite often, and they only seem to hinder the action in a book; with doing nothing like you stated or being excessive whining as a means to explain plot.