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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38830
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The first thing to note, if you want these characters to be capable of being protagonists, is the potential for an arc. This means that the character must want to be somewhere, be it physically, emotionally, or in status, away from where they are now.

This makes them start the journey. It doesn't even have to be the thing that they end up getting to by the end of the story (that could change as their character develops), it just has to be something that initially makes them take action.

For example, in a romance, a man may be dissatisfied with his career, so he ends up quitting his job, getting a new one away from his country, and then, in finding a woman who is willing to help him with culture shock and stick with him through the motions, he falls in love. After that, he wishes to find a way to make her understand that the love he feels for her is more than platonic/convince her that he's worthy/any other romance arc. The initial motivation got the ball rolling, put him in a situation where a plot can sprout from it, but after that, the conflict could be anything related to this new situation.

If the protagonist doesn't want something at the beginning, instead, make them satisfied in their situation, then introduce something to disrupt their satisfaction. The same thing applies to before; there needs to be a way to get the ball rolling, but ultimately the end goal doesn't necessarily have to be 'become satisfied like I was in the beginning'; in fact, ideally it shouldn't be, they should have learned there's more to life than their idle satisfaction.

Anyway, that's my take on writing protagonists rather than just any old character.

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