tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post8879224814968404765..comments2023-09-05T12:51:25.656-05:00Comments on edittorrent: A Theory of ProtagonistsEdittorrenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-53004030075305439372008-03-29T10:15:00.000-05:002008-03-29T10:15:00.000-05:00Theresa,I think 'the protagonist is the character ...Theresa,<BR/>I think 'the protagonist is the character who changes most' is somewhat self-evident: it's often how we decide what makes a story. We *don't* write about the twenty years of happy marriage, we start a story the moment something changes (or briefly before, to show what is lost and must be defended/regained, see Bilbo's birthday party) and we stop when the events are over and pull out with 'they lived happily ever after' or words to that effect.<BR/><BR/>And we write about the character for whom an event is most important, who is in the middle of it, who has the highest stakes. At least, when we're looking for who would make the most interesting protagonist for a particular story.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, if you're writing a different kind of story - a detective story, for instance - you might have a protagonist who barely changes at all. Sherlock Holmes is undeniably a protagonist - yet he learns very little and barely changes at all; here's merely the person who goes around and finds every clue and weaves everybody together and shapes their stories. For a mystery or a Gulliver's Travels type story designed to show off a very cool world, you often don't want a protagonist who changes a lot in response to the environment, you want the character to stand back and let events or worldbuilding shine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-91526248378081835662008-03-28T08:33:00.000-05:002008-03-28T08:33:00.000-05:00I believe some effecitve stories do not have a pro...I believe some effecitve stories do not have a protag who changes. Sometimes the protag is the anchor around whom changes swirl. I'm thinking of series protags mostly, I guess. Kinsey Milhone. Stephanie Plum. <BR/>GretchenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-25048498332323518672008-03-27T19:08:00.000-05:002008-03-27T19:08:00.000-05:00Work something out? Not in my case, I don't think....Work something out? Not in my case, I don't think. I just like to escape now and then.Dave Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00773380114295267509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-59386996261092964152008-03-27T18:31:00.000-05:002008-03-27T18:31:00.000-05:00I agree with the bit about the story representing ...I agree with the bit about the story representing the writer's subconscious. I don't think it could be otherwise. Our world view influences who we are and what we think. We do change IF we encounter new experiences. That's normal. It's called learning. So our characters had better change in some way, too, or else they wouldn't be human.<BR/><BR/>As for writing things to work out our own issues, I get that. I tend to write dark stories - shooting up the neighbors on their pig farm, a weird May/October young man/older woman encounter where the man is actually a psychopath, and a father who takes his daughter out to bury his illegitimate son who has just died at the father's hand. How weird is all that! None of it is true of course. But there must be something in my own psyche that has led to even dreaming such stuff up!<BR/><BR/>I'm a pantser, so it all just comes out, in shorts or novels. If I planned, I don't think I would get the buzz that I'm getting out of this 'head work'. But I certainly don't think about the psychology of it as I'm writing it. I discover it later. Sometimes even the names match and I'm not aware of it until the words are all out there to see.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-91963338263856613482008-03-26T22:45:00.000-05:002008-03-26T22:45:00.000-05:00Green Knight, yeah, I'm not a fan of archetypal ch...Green Knight, yeah, I'm not a fan of archetypal characters, either. They're very limiting when applied correctly, and rarely are the applied correctly. Anyway, I think this particular Jungian theory has more to do with degrees of change than with the fact of change. <BR/><BR/>Kathleen, this is also the conclusion I'm reaching. But I thought maybe the writers would have a different take on it.<BR/><BR/>TheresaEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-63338031938892277382008-03-26T20:10:00.000-05:002008-03-26T20:10:00.000-05:00I don't think it has a particularly practical appl...I don't think it has a particularly practical application. I think most of that takes place at a subconscious level and therefore you're not actively aware of it, for the most part, as you're writing. <BR/><BR/>I think free flow writing can be helpful with writers block, and probably is also useful in healing the psyche. But, I think there's too much planning and effort when writing a novel or major story for it to have the same effect.Kathleen Oxleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12679658114758708843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-19842766690094524772008-03-26T17:03:00.000-05:002008-03-26T17:03:00.000-05:00I think there are people who write in order to pro...I think there are people who write in order to process something in their lives for whom this theory might well apply - writing a novel is often seen as a carthagic experience. However, I think this might well be 'the novel everybody has in them' - the one single thing people are driven to write - and after which, they stop writing. <BR/><BR/>The writers I am more familiar with are compulsive storytellers. They will take what if to extreme lengths, starting with characters whose mindsets are alien to them and continually attempting to ensure that these people act 'in character' and make their own, logical, and often alien-to-the-author decisions.<BR/><BR/>Personally I find the type of formalised literary writing what characters are archetypes rather than personalities boring and far too easily decoded; they're not the stories I wish to read or write. <BR/><BR/>As for the protagonist - it might well be the person for whom the most changes, but that's a bit of a circular definition: the stories of people whose lives stay the same are not interesting enough to write them. Story happens in the moment something changes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com