Daniel David Wallace
Beginning
Summary: First Few Chapters: Give the Protagonist a “Project” for Goal/Improvement
How to Make a Great Protagonist?
How to Tell a Story in a Compelling Way?
How to Narrate Scenes so your Reader Understands and Enjoys What is Going On
The Age-Old Dilemma: Story versus Character
What Makes a Good Story?
What Makes a Good Character?
Advice on this is Unending
1. Protagonist should have only One Unshakeable Goal
2. Protagonist should Follow the Hero’s Journey
Most of this Advice is either Wrong or only Half-Right
Instead …
Most Protagonists are (at least initially) BAD Protagonists
After All: a Genius Detective can’t Solve the Mystery on Page One – There’d be no Story
Example: What Makes Hamlet a Great Play is that Hamlet is in the Wrong Play … for Hamlet
The Play Exploits His Weakness
Macbeth would Solve the Problem in a Heartbeat
The Macbeth Story Hinges on Hamlet being in the Wrong Condition to Resolve the
Conflict without Growth
Take-home: The Story Only Makes Sense as Something the Protagonist is Experiencing
The Story is the Story Only Because the Protagonist is Who They Are
Common Problem for Storywriters
When Beginning a Novel, It Takes a While to Figure out the “Real Story”
It Takes Some Pages to Discover the “Real Story”
But if You Don’t Engage the Reader on the First Page, They may Abandon the Novel
Issue:
The Protagonist’s Motivation for the Story Plot is Different From the Their Desire at the
Story Beginning
1. The Protagonist is Ignorant of the Central Conflict
2. They are Ill-Suited for It – in Some Way
3. They have to Figure It Out as the Story Unfolds
The Protagonist is Stuck in a Story He is Ill-Suited For
The Take-Home:
“Character-First” Means Establishing a Character-Reader Bond Before the “Real” Story
Begins
Many Novels – even Successful Ones – Start Slow: Think
When does the “Real” Story in Your Favorite Novel Begin to Come Clear
When Do You Find Out What’s Actually Happening?
When Do You Find Out What’s Really at Stake?
What is Going On During this Introductory Time?
The Inciting Incident of Often more Metaphorical than Expected
Go Back to Your Favorite Novel. Likely that:
What You Remember about the Novel is Different than Reading it the First Time
You Remember when the Real Story Kicks Off, not the Beforehand
We Remember the Whole, We Experience the Story
What Keeps People Reading after the First Page; the Character
We First Experience the Character
We First Relate to the Character
We First Build a Relationship to the Character
After the Character - But Also before the Story – We get to Exposition, World Building,
etc
Only Sometime Later Do We Encounter the Story
The Take Home: People Relate to the Character “First”
If They Can’t Relate to the Character, they Abandon the Book
They never get to the Story
Think:
You Can’t Introduce an Intriguing Fight Scene before the Protagonist Gives It Meaning
Which Demands the Reader First Understands and Bonds to the Protagonist
Conundrum:
In the “Real Story” it’s hard to write a good First Chapter because the Readers
aren’t Ready for It Yet
But Readers also Don’t want to be Bored – therefore, Page One must Also be Good
Backstory must First be Earned by Protagonist Bonding
Paradox:
How to get the Novel Started And Make a Connection to the Reader – Starting Page One
Solution: It’s about the Character’s Changing Relationship to the Real Story Plot
Often, In Chapter One, The Character isn’t Interested in the Plot
The Protagonist Often is Ill-Suited for the Plot
They are Often Ignorant of or Resistant to the Plot
It is Only as They Figure Out What is Happening and Become Involved
that They Even Become Aware of the Plot
and Only Then Start to Care about It – and so Does the Reader
At This Point in the Story, the Plot is about the Characters Developing Connection to the Story
The Excitement of the Plot is about the Protagonist
Failing to Grasp the Plot
Live Up to It
Thinking They’ve “Got a Handle on It”
And Failing