"Main character is always the agent. That is, she's always choosing, always acting, always moving the plot by her behavior" Veronica Roth (page 10 of the bonus material in DIVERGENT).
Is the main character of your WIP making choices and acting, or is she being acted upon and reacting to the choices of other characters?
My MC is the instigator, and then reacts to the the response.
ReplyDeleteWhat if the main character is a literary agent? Does that mean she's the ultimate agent of change?
ReplyDeleteLulz.
I know, I think I'm so clever.
Yes .. so, so, so clever. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great quote! It's definitely something I always keep in mind with my characters.
ReplyDeleteThat's an important distinction. Seems obvious until you look at your own work or stories that don't work and what happens when you break the rule
ReplyDeleteHmm. Now I have to go back and read and think about this.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
I think.
I had this problem pointed out to me about a certain WIP of mine - my character was very passive & things were always happening TO her. I've tried to work on that but need to really make sure I've done good revisions.
ReplyDeletemy new blog address is here
I'm popping in from IWSG.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so this is food for thought...
It makes me think of types of people: there are those who make things happen; there are those who watch things happen; there are those who wonder... what happened?
It's obvious which one the MC should be...