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What is your protagonist’s main internal struggle in your WIP?
So I’ll use my protagonist from a short story that I’ve recently started. It’s so new that I don’t even have a name for my MC, (I really gotta fix that XD), but I do have a pretty good idea about who he is, the flow of the story, and the main conflict.
His main internal struggle is learning to let go. He’s very overly protective, because of a traumatic event a year before that he feel like he could have prevented. Now, his whole life revolves around keeping his friends and family safe no matter what. Even if it means losing sleep, having to cheat on school tests, and even destroying the relationships with the very people he’s trying to protect.
In the end, he learns that he never was in control, like he was so desperately was trying to do, he was actually just a slave to his fears. Which, in turn, ended up destroying his life.
Okay, so this sounds pretty dark writing this all out, but I assure you that there will be a hopeful ending. I very much dislike wholly dark endings, so although the ending will be bit sad, there also will be hope for the MC finally healing. Something that he knew deep down throughout the story he needed, but only at the end has the courage to do.
So, what is your protagonist’s main internal struggle in your current WIP?
@kathleenramm Hmmm this is probably gonna help me develop my characters….I will choose to go with my three MCs from The Mafia of Heather Flights.
I’ll go with Ethan first because he’s the one I have most developed, internal conflict-wise. As a kid if he did something bad he was sent to his room without dinner. Now he’s anorexic, because of the guilt that he feels over being part of the criminal organisation that his brother holds. He’s trying to find a way to not feel so guilty anymore. When the police detective Zachary Wing offers to wipe him of his past sins if he joins the police force, he accepts, thinking that by betraying his brother he’ll be able to be free of his guilt. But he feels just as guilty, and he still can’t eat. Eventually there comes some point where his sister calls and reminds him what his Chinese name means, “grace”, and he learns to accept how grace is free or something like that……..
Then there’s Shade. As a child taken to be a human experiment to develop a type of drug, contracted a long-term disease that will result in his death, and then thrown aside with the half-completed drug to sell. He’s got no home, no family, no friends, no name, he can’t even see colors anymore. So he thinks, “Well, if I can sell this drug, at least I’ll have money. If there’s anything left, I’ll have money. That’s fine.” Problem is, none of the criminal organizations there want him to sell it, due to some complicated interwoven thing related to the government and a lot of other backstory. Well, the criminals were the one who had funded the project in the first place, and now they won’t even let him sell drugs…well, they’re essentially the ones who took everything from him. So over the course of the story, Shade gets consumed by hate and revenge. Probably at some point (maybe right before he dies) maybe he realises that revenge is going to bring him even less than what he wanted, but maybe he’s gonna say, “It’s too late anyway” and set himself on fire. (I feel awful for him…ugh…no, don’t worry, Ethan saves him from the fire…)
Now Micah. Micah is Ethan’s older brother, and one of the sponsors of the experiment. Due to some complicated circumstances around his mother’s death he was propelled to get enough money to fund the thing for a thing for a something —-yeah, just know that he’s doing this to essentially avenge/or make things better I haven’t really decided yet. Now crime is just his entire world; he’s got a stable job, he’s got his routine, he’s got his world…and he doesn’t see a way out of it. Not that he thinks he has to get out of it. He’s fine with it. He’s gotta be strong to protect his brother. Well, now his brother’s gone and betrayed him and his organization is in shambles. He has to reevaluate a lot of things…as to reevaluating what, I’m not sure. But at the end of the book he’s gonna turn himself in. That’s about as much as I know.
Whoa…this was a long post…
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into daysInternal conflict, I believe, is one of the key elements to any good book (and character arc, for that matter). The heroine for my current WIP, Caira Watson, deals with internal conflict revolving around the fact that she’s been trapped in ice for one thousand years and shoved into a prophecy (and no, it’s not cliché). Needless to say, Caira has a hard time trusting others, and, to an extent, herself. A good example of this is when she meets her future love interest, Newton. Her first impression of him is friendly (unknown to her, he’s acting as a spy). And then, lo and behold, he turns out to be the person that betrays her to the bad guys, which causes her to resent him and not trust him.
She’s thrown into this new life, everybody keeps calling her a ‘savior’ and expecting her to save the world, and putting so much pressure on her. This is why Caira is so torn. She doesn’t want conflict, but she wants to fight for what she believes in, and she wants to fight on behalf of her dead parents, and for them, she’d do whatever it takes.
Another thing about Caira is that, because she’s expected to overthrow the corrupted government and be some sort of savior, she puts all of her identity into being what the world expects her to be, rather than putting her identity into who she is as a person. She feels like her worth only comes from her special powers, but when her powers end up failing her *cough cough spoiler cough cough* and she’s left to save the world on her own, she feels unworthy and… weak.
She battles unforgiveness throughout the book, feeling resentful that she never had the chance to grieve the death of her parents/her family/her old self.
She wants to set things right within herself, but she’s scared that, if she comes to terms with letting go, then she’ll be forgetting her parents all over again. So she clings to those feelings of bitterness because she feels like that’s the only thing linking her to her parents and her past.
Wow… that sounded a lot darker than I meant for this post to… Sorry for the length! I thought Caira would be the best character to talk about since she’s the character I’ve fleshed out the most 🙂
Your charries sound super interesting! 🙂 How many WIP’s do you have currently?
Y’all’s stuff sounds SO cool!
So, now I want to do this b/c it sounds like fun!
Jade:
For one, I do have to figure out the core flaws that stem into his peripheral flaws so I don’t just fight the peripheral flaws all day and then still have Jade stuck as who he is. SO, I know that Jade has a big problem with selfishness, always has. He becomes aware of this by a series of events that I haven’t figured out quite yet, but anyway, he gets to a point where he hates himself and is hopelessly caught in his own sin and he wants out of his downward spiral, but he has pride and self-focus that keeps him entangled and he feels like all his efforts to free himself just get him more ensnared. This starts after he thinks he has killed his brother (who he spent most of his life taking care of), who was one of the few people he’s attached to. This situation (I’m pretty sure) gets worse and worse as the story goes on, and he NEEDS help desperately (God-figure stepping in?🤷♀️) (I really want him to change to a good guy from anti-hero status)
Fabian:
Jade’s younger brother I just mentioned. After his body is all but destroyed in a bomb, his brain is still just alive, and scientists put his conscious into a giant anthropomorphic blue lizard I call a thrid (for lack of a better name) and he has to deal with his own fears and self-consciousness, not to mention other people’s views of him and that his own brother didn’t recognize him, as well as having courage to do what he must. Fabian’s main things are that he is super shy and scared, and is trying to overcome it, as well as embitterment and a desperation to find out if his life has meaning.
We crazy people are the normal ones.
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@kathleenramm This topic sounds amazing! The only problem is, I’ll be here ALL DAY AND NIGHT!
Therefore, I will try my absolute hardest to make this super short (and avoid spoilers).
Rina: So, her main internal struggle(s) is with her past–since she’s presented with the opportunity to pirate again, but for a good cause (is there such thing?). She’s not sure what to do or how to feel. To make matters worse, she’s not hearing God clearly on anything, so when she must suffer through the consequences, she’s not sure where to turn.
Keaton: He has so many internal struggles that it drives me CRAZY! Mostly, he needs to learn to believe again–in God, most importantly. He needs to learn the definition of faith, the meaning of grace. Which brings me to Daisy.
Daisy: She has one struggle after the other. As soon as it seems she’s fine, something else pops up. The main issue is that she struggles with grace, repentance, and moving on. Can’t say much more. Spoilers, you know.
@writerlexi1216 Thank you! Caira sounds really well-developed as well! *pained smile* Not counting the ones on hiatus, probably around 3 or 4.
@scoutfinch180 Oo, I remember these two from that short story of yours! I’m glad to see your perspective on them!Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into daysThanks! Ahahah, wow, that sounds like a handful. (How on earth do you keep track of everything?) I only have one WIP going on right now (I don’t trust myself to keep track of multiple storylines and I’m afraid I’d start to like one more than the other), but I’ve been thinking about starting a second one… I only have some characters, though
@kathleenramm @devastate-lasting @writerlexi1216 @scoutfinch180 @gracie-j
All these excerpts are excellent! I always love hearing more about y’all’s characters:)
Thanks! Jade would be glad you remembered him! And Fabian… eh… he doesn’t like the spotlight, but he’s stuck in it anyway (mua-ha-ha!). And I didn’t realize about Fabian’s fear issues so much until someone else noticed on the forum😂! I must say, it’s so funny when characters begin to write themselves.
*Jade snatches pen out of my hand*
Of course we write ourselves, we’re too cool to let HER write us.
*Snatching pen back*
I think Jade resents me more than most of my characters because I’m determined to get him thoroughly miserable.
We crazy people are the normal ones.
@gracie-j
Gracie: *tactful of spoilers*
Me: ALL the spoilers. ALL of them! *showers you in spoilers*
Lovely characters, by the way!
@writerlexi1216 I organize them differently in my head. I remember that one is my handwritten one, another is currently in plotting shambles, another is going to be a webnovel, and the final one is just waiting for me to write it ;-;. It helps that they’re mostly in different genres/worlds and that half of them have a significantly smaller cast than the other two. And the characters have been with me for different amounts of time; in one WIP they’ve been with me since I first started writing, in another they’ve been in my head for a couple of years, for another they only appeared last year, and for the final WIP they’ve only existed for a month or so.
@abigail-m Ah thank you! I enjoy ranting about them when asked.
@scoutfinch180 Aw, haha! I get you. When I start pantsing a project all of them are complete strangers to me…by the time I finish with it I’m pleasantly surprised with how much they’ve introduced themselves to me.Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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My MC Seth’s main internal conflict is his anger, bitterness, and desire for revenge. He’s gone through a lot of trauma and tragedy, despite being only a small child. At a very young age he witnessed the torture of one of his adoptive guardians, and vowed to himself he would never forgive the perpetrators, as it would be a betrayal to those he loves. As he grew older that trauma and vow not to forgive stayed with him and hardened him, until he ends up hurting and rejecting his loved ones in his desire to protect and avenge them. He also knows he’s adopted and believes he’s not part of a family since he’s not their “own flesh and blood.”
Yes, this does sound pretty dark! But everything ends with the light at the end of the tunnel. My ending will be bittersweet, but it will carry hope and trust in God.
- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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@abigail-m Aw, thank you! What about yours?
@devastate-lasting 🤣🤣🤣 Girl, I’m normally puking spoilers (yeah, please erase that image from your mind XD)! Thank you!@gracie-j
Yes, I’ve been thinking about which character to annoy XD Haven’t decided yet:) But I’ll definitely do one because I love these weekly discussion topics and it’s always so cool to see new aspects of everyone’s characters! 😀
This is an awesome topic!
And an interesting one at that…
I suppose I’ll use Mejia (still working on a name) for this topic.
(Warning: I’m the queen of spoilers, so yes, just a warning:)In the prologue, Mejia is wandering blindly through a blizzard, due to the fact that she was recently abandoned twice for her fighting spirit. In addition, she has been looked down on and mocked her whole life. She survives however and attains her sword and Warriors Title after three years of trial. And ever since, has lived as a nomad. Her only relatively close contact being a doctor/healer who lives half a day’s trek away.
Needless to say, her internal conflict is complicated. She doesn’t feel responsible for being abandoned, in fact, it had strengthened her resolve not to let her past affect who she was or who she could be.
Mejia also distrusts everyone.
She is a Christian but in the beginning-to-middle part of her character arc, everything she does for God is mostly out of desperate fear. Later on, of course, she realizes that God is the best friend that she’ll ever have. But first, she goes through having to take in an ignorant one-legged girl, save her forest from an insane yet hurting villain, keep the Ice Bridge from shattering, endure her best friend dying to save another, and re-learn everything she ever knew after losing the ability of her sword arm.
She has fears and limits obviously because she is human, but they’re selective. She has many doubts about love because no one ever bothered to show her any.
Her deepest and least visible internal conflict is her doubt that she won’t be enough when everything (including the fates a great many lives) is laid in her hands.Yes, I know, my poor character. But that’s the basic sum of Mejia’s internal conflict anyway.
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