Welcome back to my little corner of the internet where I share my secrets, tips and hints to improve your writing. Hopefully you’ve read the first tip as it still remains the best that I can give. Here, I’ll share it once more:

Get writing!

Ahem, alright. With that out of the way, let’s actually talk about said writing. This tip is a little fundamental one. You see, there are lots of aspects to writing and to speculative fiction. You have fantastical worlds, daring adventures, gripping mysteries and thought-provoking themes. However, I believe there is really one aspect that rises more important above all others.

Character.

We read stories to get invested in the struggles and trials of people (though, obviously, not necessarily human people). It’s the vessel through which the reader is going to travel down your adventure. Now, there’s lots to say on how to create compelling characters and all that which, hopefully, I’ll be able to explore in later tips. Today, however, I’m going to start with something a little more fundamental. 

You see, one pitfall I’ve seen beginner writers fall into is that they have this really great “big idea” that they got so focused on—be it their twist, theme or event—that they simply forgot the person that’s going through it. You see, main characters are determined by who the writer decides to focus their attention on. The main character should play a “main role” in the narrative. Specifically, they should be an active vehicle navigating the turbulent waters, not thrown around haphazardly by rough currents and sort of washing up on the shores of your conclusion by mere happenstance.

This is what I call “agency” and basically boils down to a single tenant: at the climax of your story, the main character should make a conscious decision to reach their conclusion. 

The nature of this decision, naturally, will vary depending on the type of story that you’re telling. But it is important, no matter what type of character your protagonist is, that they make this final choice. Even if you’re writing a story about a coward or timid individual. Let’s be honest, Frodo wasn’t the bravest hobbit to leave the Shire but he still had his moment of choice in the belly of Mount Doom. 

And Frodo’s agency is an interesting one because ultimately, he chose poorly. He wanted to keep the One Ring and let darkness descend upon the world. If it wasn’t for Gollum’s own greed then things wouldn’t have turned out well for the heroes. But that’s kind of the point Tolkien was going for. Despite Frodo’s choice not impacting the final outcome of the epic, however, he still had agency until the end. Imagine, instead, an alternative Lord of the Rings, where Frodo sort of just passed out from malnutrition and exhaustion before entering the volcano and simply awoke later to be informed that it was Sam who heroically fought off Gollum upon the craggy precipice in order to throw the ring to its final demise. As a reader, you’d probably want to read about that rather than have Gandalf dictate it to Frodo in an unending epilogue that could really use some editing down. 

So keep a clear reminder of who it is that your story is about. How do they personally intersect, react or impact the final moment of your narrative? Ask yourself if this person is really making a critical choice at the peak of tension and, if not, perhaps they aren’t the main character you wish to use but rather there’s someone else that will work better. If we’re, as readers, going to be sitting through your entire story about this individual, we want some reason to be invested in their success or failure. 

After all, even cowards make choices that can have tremendous ramifications. Sometimes, it’s the most impactful.