Morning, Christian writers-with-a-reason; I hope you have all had a good weekend! Our sermon at church yesterday was about Peter, who had faith and took a risk. That’s a good reminder for us all – hope it will make you think, too. If you have anything to share/encourage others, please do add it in the comments below – it might be just the thing someone else needs to hear. 🙂

And now for this week’s writing tip: creating engaging protagonists.

wooden dolls from different cultures

Sometimes, as part of my job with Dernier Publishing, I am sent unsolicited manuscripts with dull protagonists. Unfortunately, dull characters make for dull reading.

I am also sometimes sent stories with protagonists who are unpleasant. It’s hard to read through to the end of such stories, because if you don’t care what happens to the characters, it’s difficult to find the motivation to keep going.

Publishers want engaging protagonists – here’s a list of possible characteristics:

They are courageous, they have faults, they have at least one very good friend, they have a strong reason to win though, they have a strong sense of justice, they have loads of personality, they are caring. They need to be the kind of person your readers would either like to be or have as their friend – or at least admire.

Does that help you with your protagonists? Please let me know if it does!

Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier Publishing and Write for a Reason
Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier Publishing and Write for a Reason

I look forward to hearing from you,

Janet

P.S. We are going to be looking in depth at writing dialogue in our next Write for a Reason membership programme, so if you would like some tips and exercises to improve your dialogue, come and join us!

 

One Thing Publishers Really Want
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