‫Hello rioters and welcome to another lesson in writing a fantasy novel.
‫In this lecture I'll be going through the fundamentals of writing a fantasy protagonist main character
‫or side character.
‫With that being said I won't go in depth into each purpose behind these characters as the main character
‫and side character have largely different roles when it comes to the plot of a fantasy novel.
‫First thing to make a note of when creating a character in any genre is that the personality is going
‫to be unique personality is often an influence on the plot or subplot depending on the role the character
‫has in the novel to better decide a personality for your character.
‫You must decide upon one governing trait this trade to be what affects most of the characters decisions.
‫This governing trait will affect the plot in a large way.
‫So that is why you need to be considerate when deciding on this trait.
‫If you want a character to pull through in tough times you'll need to give them courage.
‫If the going is getting tough you want the tough to run for their lives.
‫Make their governing trait cowardice.
‫Once you've decided on their plot developing trait you decide their face value trait and bad trait the
‫face value trait is what governs how they talk and act on a day to day basis.
‫The bad trait is their Achilles heel which in the end is what makes them human.
‫For example suppose we have a character whose bad trait is cowardice.
‫Cowardice is their true problem in life and their fear is clear in their mind.
‫However their face value trait is bravery.
‫The character pretends to be strong and unfailing but in reality it is just a facade to protect their
‫Achilles heel.
‫Now let us make this character more interesting by deciding upon the governing trait a trait which comes
‫first.
‫Over both face value and bad trait.
‫Let us make this character trait protective of their family.
‫So this unlikable character who isn't willing to put themselves in harm's way for other characters despite
‫saying that they will will fight to the last breath for their family with these traits you can easily
‫decide upon how the character acts and speaks from the can add anything else that you find necessary.
‫Appearance is something I personally don't take too much time seriously writing the way a character
‫talks and acts as what really gets the interest of the reader.
‫However appearance is still important in its own way.
‫Working with appearances can decide how this person lives how they take care of themselves and so on.
‫If you describe a meek looking character you cannot expect your reader to believe they are strong Fatah.
‫I have read many fantastic descriptions of characters but in the book itself they always fall flat of
‫the description keeping their description openly vague gives you more room to work with and it gives
‫the reader opportunity to picture the character in their own way which is in fact what they will be
‫doing from the start of the novel.
‫So filling of that picture over time throughout the novel can affect the attachment between that character
‫and the reader next.
‫The protagonist has a moral compass when creating a protagonist who must decide to what limits they
‫are bad.
‫Before you make them so if you push a character far then the characters more an antagonist than a protagonist
‫has to be something about the protagonist that makes them good.
‫They are never truly any neutral characters in books.
‫So keep that advice in mind when writing a character.
‫Finally it comes down to the purpose of the sad protagonists.
‫Will they help the main character or characters on their journey or be used simply as a tool for worldbuilding
‫or character development.
‫Lesser side characters need not have such depth but every interaction in a novel is a golden opportunity
‫to shine the precious draw that is your novel the protagonists interactions with other characters needs
‫to help the reader understand who they are so let each one be an opportunity to build them.
‫I find that conflict is the best way to develop any character.
‫Arguments are when emotions are the most clear and truth is often in voluntarily revealed allowing you
‫to be quite straightforward with your reader and also give solid reason to why the character is changing
‫the way that they are.
‫Yes even protagonists have arguments and setting these relationships will further cement who they are
‫in the readers eyes.
‫With that this lesson comes to an end and the next video we'll be looking at the antagonists and how
‫they fit in the overall arc of your fantasy novel.
‫I'll see you then.