THE HERO’S OVERVIEW

To create a powerful protagonist, you have to know them inside out and backwards, which means delving into much more than just their looks and likes. These are some questions that have helped make my hero in my novel Call Me Gracie feel like another daughter to me.

BRAINSTORMING THE HERO’S BACKGROUND AND AGENDA

Basic Description
Physical traits, likes/dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, etc.      

Defining Characteristic
What is the hero’s most essential quality? Example: Courage, loyalty, tenacity, etc.

Heroic Quality
What characteristic makes readers connect instantly with the hero OR makes them the person who will save the day?

Unique Traits
What are your hero’s quirks?

Most Prized Possession
This is a cherished item that connects with the emotional backstory, like a stuffed animal from their ex-BFF, a necklace from their dead mother, a book that got them through hard times, etc.

What They Value Most
This can be a quality in themselves or others, or more general values like family, friendship, loyalty, material success, etc.

Principle They Live By
What is their motto? For example, someone who values material success might live by the motto the end justifies the means.

Summary of Main Problem
What is the hero is fighting against that is driving the plot?

Summary of Other Problems
What other external and internal problems are complicating the main problem?

Hero’s Goal
What does the hero hope to achieve by solving their problem?

Summary of Agenda
How does the hero plan to achieve their goal?

EMOTIONAL CONSTELLATION
Brainstorming the emotional background behind the hero’s goal, agenda, actions, and reactions.

Driving Desire: Summary of what they want and why
What a hero wants is often different from what they need. For example, a teen might want to escape an overbearing parent by defying them. But that’s not what they need to do in order to thrive.

Desperate Need: Summary of what they need and why
This is the TRUE problem the hero needs to solve. For example, the hero defying overbearing parents needs to confront them honestly to show how the parents’ actions are harming them.

Misbelief: Summary of the internal misperception that trips them up
See Lisa Cron’s webpage http://wiredforstory.com for more info on the misbelief. To stick with the example above, our hero’s misbelief might be that their parents are too stubborn to listen, so they have to rebel.

Shard of Glass: Summary of trauma that caused misbelief
This is the event that created your hero’s skewed perspective. When the defiant teen was a child, their parents humiliated them in front of their peers, causing them to be bullied, and when they confronted them, the parents justified their actions/brushed off the child’s trauma.