Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A From reactive to proactive; When should the protagonist change tack?

Readers typically prefer active characters, because one of the reasons we read is to learn, and one of the ways we learn is by seeing the decisions that characters make, and their consequences, dra...

posted 5y ago by Chris Sunami‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T12:27:43Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46677
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Chris Sunami‭ · 2019-12-08T12:27:43Z (almost 5 years ago)
Readers _typically_ prefer active characters, because **one of the reasons we read is to learn** , and one of the ways we learn is by seeing the decisions that characters make, and their consequences, dramatized. There's less to learn from a passive character who only reacts.

Given that, and all other things being equal, I would prefer to give your character consequential decisions early. However, **it sounds like your character's story arc is going from passive to active** , in which case that's a transition that might not happen until your character is absolutely forced to take control.

It's important to keep in mind **that there's a difference between being "active" and being "effective."** A character who is making choices that don't work out or that don't have an effect is not being passive.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-07-16T21:02:03Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 2