Wrapping Up Weeks 4-5 And A Recipe For A Protagonist

The Skinny

I've written a backstory for my character - not a complete history, but the big events that help explain who he is on the first day of the story. This week I'll define the problem he faces and write my opening scene.

One for the Toolbox: Creating a Protagonist

As a guest lecturer for Brandon Sanderson's writing class at BYU, Sci-Fi writer Eric James Stone gave the audience a "Recipe for a Story."But first, can a story be distilled into a single recipe? No. More broadly, can anyone write laws for what a story can or must accomplish? No. So why would a "Recipe for a Story" exist?The best explanation, and the way I work, comes from Stephen King's book On Writing. King argues that a writer should create a toolbox: a collection of devices or advice that the writer can pick and choose from when writing something new. This "Recipe" would go into the toolbox. In no way does it limit what a writer is allowed to do.So for anyone who wants to tell a story but doesn't know where to begin, here's Eric James Stone's formula for a compelling protagonist:

• The Hero
  • There is something special about the hero
  • And the hero wants something
  • And the hero is afraid of something
  • Early on, the hero encounters a problem that is almost impossible to solve
  • By the end, the hero must face what he is afraid and give up what he wants in order to solve the problem