Who is your main character? Although there are exceptions, stories in general have one protagonist. Fairly frequently, especially in more plot-driven stories, there may also be what I call a "secondary protagonist" who is closely allied with the protagonist and works as a team with him or her. Often the secondary protagonist is also a love interest, but not always. Additionally, you may have protagonists of subplots. I discussed subplots HERE.
For your story, choose only one protagonist and, if you wish, one secondary protagonist.
Now, you need to lay out a simple outline of your story. A story can be divided into three parts, cleverly:
1. Beginning
2. Middle
3. End
The beginning sets up the story, showing the protagonist in his "ordinary world" and how and why he makes the decision to pursue the story goal.
The middle, the longest section, consists of a series of actions and reactions that show the progress and problems of the progatonist pursuing the story goal.
The end describes how the story is resolved.
Identify in a few sentences each what happens to your protagonist in the beginning, middle, and end of your story.
OK, on Friday we'll expand the story outline. Happy writing!
About two years ago I came across the term "deuteragonist," and I thought that was the best term ever. :-)
ReplyDeleteI like this :-)
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