Comments on How to write an introverted main character with accidental charisma
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How to write an introverted main character with accidental charisma
I’m planning a medieval-style fantasy epic in which a young protagonist is plucked from his humble life, acquires great powers, and ultimately saves his civilisation from the Big Baddie (a politically manipulative dragon). My MC’s personality is quiet, dreamy, introverted, and a little bit quirky. I imagine him as having some mild autism spectrum attributes but will probably play this subtly, if at all, in the written version of the character.
I’m working pretty hard on defining the MC’s motivations clearly, because his tendency is to be passive. He has no ambitions to heroism or adventure and spends the first third of the story just reacting to unusual events (with one important exception). After some terrible things happen, he spends the middle third trying to find answers, but still doesn’t have a clear goal in mind. Only by the last third does he realise that he needs to be a hero and that nobody else can do the heroic thing.
I want to make sure that my MC is not overshadowed by my secondary characters, some of whom seem to be more proactive or have more “colourful” personalities which the reader might naturally find more interesting. In particular, I want to convey that other characters are drawn to the MC, not because he’s conventionally charismatic but because of a special something that makes people like him and want to help him, perhaps without realising why. Local folks are starting to put their hope in him by the middle third and he's a full-blown national icon and rallying point by the end, despite him just trying to get on with the job of fixing the world with his growing magical powers. He's not interested in fame - he just does what he needs to do in the moment, based on what knowledge and ability he has.
My question might actually be twofold because I don’t know the answers to either of these things: What aspect of his personality gives him this compelling something, exactly? How do I convey that in my third-person narrative? (by which I think I mean, How do I make the reader feel the same way about him?)
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Your protagonist's description reminds me of Violet Baudelaire in the opening chapters of A Series of Unfortunate Events.
She was an inventor, and she was well drawn. Which is to say, she had easily-envisioned personality traits and mannerisms, such as tying her hair with a ribbon every time she invented something.
She was distinctive, and this is what draws readers to her.
Answer #1:
Give your character distinctions. Give your character a few traits that are unusual, and make those traits specific. Here are a few ideas off the top of my head. Brainstorm some yourself too.
~~ Your character refuses to buy produce, instead goes out of his way to learn what is edible along the local roadways and eats that as he travels. Sometimes he makes a mistake and becomes ill, to good story-effect.
~~ Your character collects something odd, like moths. Not living moths, mind you, because living moths perform invaluable ecosystem services which your character knows backward and forward (and shares with all comers). No, your character collects dead moths. He recently found a (rare moth) from (strange land) dead on a cart. He collects it and wonders what it means, perhaps deducing something clever and story related.
~~ Your character is kind to his elders. He is kind. When others are annoyed by old people, he sees what is in the elders, worth kindness. (And besides, he is a kind soul). Perhaps the elderly are like moths, to him, in how others don't value them as they should. (Hopefully your protagonist does not collect them.)
The important point is to give him some specific, recurring, intriguing, and relevant trait, something unusual that hopefully impacts the story itself and is not simply a random descriptive element. Like Violet's inventive nature.
Answer #2:
More broadly, find characters in your own reading that have some element of what you are searching for, and ask yourself what it is that makes it work. Approach it as a puzzle. Why does A Series of Unfortunate Events work? It does not follow conventional rules. Maybe it is the humor. Maybe it is the voice. Maybe it is the episodic nature of the series. And so on. Why does Violet, as a character, work? (Or find your own examples.)
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