The Protagonist’s Pal

Is your protagonist a surly recluse, a man or woman of few words, a guy with a drinking problem and an attitude? That describes a lot of lead characters in mystery novels. Still, like the rest of us, your antisocial hero /heroine needs somebody to talk to.

Invariably students in my novel writing courses wanted to open their first chapters with detailed biographies and lengthy physical descriptions of their protagonist. It’s tempting. Once you’ve got all that background information out of the way the reader will know what you’re talking about as you tell your story. Sadly, many readers will also close the book and forget about it.

Start your novel in the middle of action. Let your reader discover what makes your point of view character tick as the narrative develops. How? Mainly, I’d say, through showing how he/she deals with situations and by interacting with other characters. That gets me back to the title of this post, The Protagonist’s Pal.

A protagonist needs somebody to bounce ideas off, to offer advice and criticism, to aid and abet, to explain himself to, and sometimes to do the dirty work. Consider Robert B. Parker’s character, Spenser. Whenever the going gets truly rough Spenser calls on his buddy, Hawk, a “gun for hire,” who lives by his own personal code. Many leading characters in the hardboiled genre have a friend like that and make good that person when the time comes to get violent.

A protagonist also needs somebody to save, somebody to show his/her softer, more vulnerable side. Your protagonist may be tough as nails with the bad guys, but must also harbor qualities, no matter how deeply hidden, that the reader can admire. Don’t laugh. Dogs are good for this. A man who loves his dog is hard to dislike. The same goes for children, the elderly, and the disabled. If your protagonist shows kindness to the vulnerable, he is basically likeable and your reader will be more willing to stick with him through tough times.

In the end it comes down to having friends as well as enemies to talk to. Get your protagonist interacting as soon as your story opens. Teach us about him/her as he deals with people as well as events. Reveal his character through dialogue with others. Make sure he has conversations with enemies, but also with friends. Make him human. Humans talk to each other. Most readers like a protagonist who is not only special and interesting, but also human.