WHAT IS CHARACTER-FIRST WRITING?

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I help writers recapture their original joy for storytelling. Here's the core idea of character-first writing: readers make sense of fictional worlds through the protagonist's perspective, reactions, and choices.

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The protagonist serves as the reader's ambassador or interpretive guide. Without the main character's specific way of processing events, even the most dramatic plot developments often land flat.

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This approach argues that readers experience story events as meaningful not only because of their inherent drama, but because of how the protagonist responds to, interprets, and chooses within those situations. The reader needs to see what the protagonist notices, understand what they're thinking, and follow their decision-making process to grasp what matters in this fictional world.

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And when we start thinking like this, the character-first approach helps us think about plot differently. How can we begin a story in a way that enables the reader to make that connection quickly? How can we design the middle of a story in way that binds the dramatic developments and reveals to the protagonist's changing perspective?

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Character-first writing isn't necessarily "character-driven" fiction. It's not about prioritising personality development over plot. Instead, it provides a structural principle: the story must be organised so that the protagonist encounters situations requiring meaningful choices, processes the information the reader needs to understand, and refuses opportunities to grow and change in ways that heighten the stakes.

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It works across genres—from literary fiction to thrillers—because it addresses how readers fundamentally engage with your storytelling.

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