Making A Hero: Protagonist Development for Film & Fiction

What is it that draws us into a story? It’s not that we haven’t seen a boy-meets-girl before, or watched a movie about a heist. There’s nothing new under the sun. What makes us care is not that there is an explosion, but that a character we love is caught in the blast.

Stories are not about happenings; they’re about the people who experience what happened. Though many stories can be categorized as being either plot-driven or character driven, the best of them balance both. To figure out what your story is about, you need to also figure out whom it’s about; because your protagonist and plot are irrevocably intertwined. They are the two sides of the same coin, each mutually defining the other.

In this class, we’ll explore the two sides of that coin. I’ll be walking you through a series of questions to help you generate ideas and solidify who your main character is in relation to your plot.

Your class project will be to create a protagonist. Upload a description of your hero and answers to the character questions presented in the course, along with anything else that helps you solidify who your character is. Whether or not you use him or her in your story is up to you.