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If you're a writer of fiction, you likely feel as though you know your characters inside and out. Perhaps the main character in your story is based on you or someone close to you, or perhaps the main character speaks to you in your head, taking on a life and personality beyond what you thought you could imagine. But knowing your main character as their author is one thing; figuring out how they come across to your reader is another thing entirely.

It can be a challenge to ensure that you’re writing a main character who’s compelling and interesting, and that they are coming across as you intend in your story. When I'm working with authors on their manuscripts, we almost always end up dissecting their main character in depth because they are such a critical component of your story. And the truth is that if the reader has no interest in your main character, it is unlikely they are going to feel compelled to read their journey, and therefore it's unlikely that they're actually going to finish the book.

In this article, I'm going to give you some tips for writing a main character who propels your story forward by listing some of the most common mistakes that I see with main characters.

They Have Unclear Objectives

The biggest issue that I see in writing a main character is that their objectives in the story are unclear. This is the most common piece of feedback I give about main characters when I am evaluating a manuscript. The issue with unclear objectives is that it can make the main character’s journey feel directionless, which in turn makes it harder for the reader to get invested in the story.

In some cases, the main character's objectives are crystal clear to you as the author, but it just isn't coming through to the reader. In other cases, their objectives actually are a bit hazy to you. In both cases, I would recommend taking some time to flesh out what your main character’s objectives are for yourself, separately from the novel.

A simple question to ask yourself when thinking about your main character is: What does my main character want above all else, and why? Now, your character might want a lot of different things, but what does it all add up to? What is that ultimate goal they are trying to achieve, that ultimate objective that is going to make them feel satisfied?

Try to pinpoint that and then thread it through the narrative. I promise your story is going to be much stronger and your readers will feel much more connected to your main character now that they know what that character is working toward.

Once you identify your main character’s objective, how, tactically, do you weave it into the story? You can take a few different routes here:

Internal reflection: First, you can have the main character reveal their objectives through internal moments of reflection. This works especially well if you are writing a main character who is also our first person narrator, but it still works if you are writing a close third person narrative as well, because in close third person we still should be able to dip into the main character’s mind.
Action: You can also make their objective clear through the character’s actions, because those actions should ladder up to their objective. We should see the main character taking steps to achieve their goal.
Dialogue: Finally, you can reveal their objectives through the conversations they have with other characters, where they articulate what they are trying to do and why.

For instance, if you identify that your main character's objective is that they want to get back together with their ex, the reader will expect to see certain steps taken to achieve that outcome. Maybe the character will text their ex, or even think about showing up at their house.

I want you to avoid the temptation to say your main character doesn't know what their objectives are and use that as a rationale for keeping their objectives nebulous. This is because even if the main character is unable to articulate their objectives to themselves internally, at the end of the day, everyone wants something and takes action to that specific end. It’s okay if it isn't true to your main character's personality to have them articulate their objectives explicitly—however, the reader should still be able to pick up on those overarching objectives.

Also keep in mind that a main character's objectives can absolutely change over the course of the story. But make sure you bring the reader along that journey.

They Lack Agency

When a main character lacks agency, this means that, in the story, the reader largely sees things happening to the character rather than the character making things happen.

Remember, the reader is most invested in the protagonist above all other characters, so we want to see them do things in the story. When they lack agency, the protagonist becomes dependent on other characters for action, and this results in the narrative feeling quite static. For example, this could manifest as a detective protagonist having a partner in the story, but their partner is the one doing all of the investigating.

Here, the reader will want to see the main character themselves doing that investigative work, instead of just hearing about developments from their partner. If there is no obvious reason why the protagonist is not doing any investigating, the reader will feel confused as to why they are even the main character of the story.

So make sure your main character takes action to achieve their objective and further the plot of the story. This is going to make your scenes feel much more dynamic.

Their Backstory Is Underdeveloped

When writing a main character, it’s important to give them a past. Having a strong backstory is critical to crafting a layered character that feels authentic and resonates with the reader. A character's backstory indicates why they are the way they are, what experiences have led them to their current situation, and who in their past has shaped them. It can inform the reader of their priorities and their value systems.

Think about backstory as an iceberg visual, where the tip of the iceberg is the character we see in the ongoing narrative, and then the rest of the iceberg is their backstory. By necessity, you can't show all of it in the story—otherwise the story would be too long. But you do want to surface some of that backstory so that the reader can develop a fuller understanding of the main character. If all we see in the story is the main character in the present moment, we are going to miss a huge part of what motivates them in the narrative.

Keep in mind that the key to effective backstory is to ensure it doesn’t overshadow the main narrative. It should also be integrated effectively so that it does not feel disruptive. So, be selective about which flashbacks and elements of their backstory to include.

Additionally, regardless of how much of the backstory you show, as the author you should still know a great deal about the protagonist’s backstory. It should be informing how you present them in the story, and it should help you flesh out their objectives.

They Have Suppressed Emotions

It is going to be very difficult for your reader to connect with your main character if it feels like they never emote. They will come across as robotic and inauthentic.

Keep in mind that your reader does not necessarily have to like your main character, but we do need to be able to extend empathy to them and understand why they are the way they are. If the reader doesn’t care about the main character at all, then they won’t care about reading the story and seeing what happens to them.

Now, you might say that your character is emotionally inaccessible and unable to show their feelings, even to themselves. However, I would argue that you still can portray to the reader that they are closing themselves off in that way, letting the reader gauge that they are putting up a front.

So, how do you show your character’s emotions within a scene? The easiest way is to make sure you get their character interiority on the page. In other words, make sure we see their immediate responses and reactions to major plot events. For instance, if the main character gets the news that one of their parents has died, the reader will want to see how that affects them. Do they start crying immediately, or are they in shock? Do they even feel a little bit of relief?

In the case of an emotionally inaccessible character, we could see them shut themselves off entirely, which will also tell us a lot about them. Maybe they hang up the phone or they could walk out the room.

Additionally, remember that when conveying your character's emotions, you do not have to be melodramatic. You can convey your character's emotions in subtler ways just as effectively. The bottom line is how your character emotes and reacts to conversations and plot events is going to tell us so much about them and make us feel closer to them, so do not close them off entirely.

They Feel Faceless

When writing a main character, it's critical that they come across as a complex, layered, multifaceted person. Otherwise, it's unlikely that your reader is going to connect with them.

So, to create a character who feels authentic and genuine, you'll want to give them specific personality traits and quirks that are unique to them. Ideally, they should have both good traits and bad traits as well. If your main character feels like a blank canvas or has no real individuality, they could end up boring the reader.

In fact, the more specific, unique, and flawed your main character is, the more the reader will feel compelled to connect with them. You can do a writing exercise where you develop a full character profile and then flesh out some details about your character's personality. Then, you weave those in throughout your scenes.

Some things to consider would be any bad habits that your character has, any specific elements of their routine, some of their favorite items or foods, and their hobbies. That's going to give a more intimate look at your main character and they are going to come across as more genuine and more compelling as a result.

I hope this article helped you determine if your main character is compelling and effective, or if they could use a bit more work to keep the reader interested. Writing a main character who compels readers is key to a successful story, so give yours the TLC they deserve!

Thanks so much for reading and happy writing!