From the course: Writing: The Craft of Story

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Explanation: Uncovering your protagonist's inner issue

Explanation: Uncovering your protagonist's inner issue

From the course: Writing: The Craft of Story

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Explanation: Uncovering your protagonist's inner issue

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- We've been talking about how important it is that the reader immediately get a sense of your protagonist's agenda, what she wants, why she wants it, and the longstanding fear that she'll have to overcome to get it. Question is, how the heck do you know what those things actually are? The answer is, by digging in your protagonist's backstory. After all, you can't filter everything that happens through your protagonist's worldview unless you know what her worldview is. While writers often balk at the idea of outlining, or developing their characters before they begin writing, this is the key thing that can cut down on rewriting time, but this kind of preparation doesn't have to put a crimp in your creativity, and it definitely doesn't have to include one of those long birth-to-death character bios. Here's the secret. You're only looking for information that affects the story you're telling. If a story is about the protagonist facing a…

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