Primarily for three reasons I'll cover in this post. I think so. And other stories have multiple protagonists, too. Not coincidentally (which extra keen readers of this post might have already noticed), those three picks are also the different characters mentioned by name in the book's excerpt.Įlena, Mia, and Pearl (especially Elena and Mia) each experience vital character arcs that significantly impact the main plot (or A Story).Īnd while I personally wouldn't propose Pearl as a main character (despite she and the Richardson children playing wildly important roles in the literary suspense), I do think both Elena and Mia play central roles within the ensemble cast.ĭoes that mean this book is an example of when you can have more than one protagonist? Sounds like a big canvas kind of story, doesn't it? It is.Īnd while my students and I tackled some big (and brilliant) ideas unraveled in the various storylines, my class as a whole remained divided on who they saw as the story's main character. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town-and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.Įnter Mia Warren-an enigmatic artist and single mother-who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter, Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned-from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead.
#Lies of p protagonist series#
If you haven't read this book before (or seen the TV series on Hulu), here's a brief look at the story's back cover (as seen on Amazon): One year when I was teaching creative writing, my students and I read Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere. Have You Ever Read a Book With Multiple Protagonists? You've also found the character(s) readers will (likely) root for in the overall story. If you can answer these questions, you've found your protagonist. Whose future is most important to this story, to the other characters in this story? Whose future is most important to me? To become a better writer, you do not need to know who your protagonist is before you begin writing-but as you look at your work in progress, it's important to ask: You may think your protagonist is one character, only to find out your villain is actually your protagonist. You may not know who your protagonist is until you are halfway through writing your novel.
Their fate determines whether the story is a tragedy or comedy. They define the plot and move it forward. The protagonist is the character whose fate matters most to the story. My favorite definition of the protagonist is from Stephen Koch's Writer's Workshop: Nick Carraway is the narrator of The Great Gatsby, but he is not the protagonist. The protagonist of Macbeth, for example, is clearly not a hero. The protagonist can also be called the hero or main character, but these terms are imprecise, and for some stories, plainly false. In a traditional story, the protagonist has several very specific requirements, and if your protagonist doesn't meet those requirements, your story will break down. But should you? Definition of Protagonistīefore going deep into ways (and when) to use multiple protagonists, it's important to understand what determines a protagonist from a secondary character.
However, as I mentor and edit authors, I've had more and more writers ask me the big question: “Can you have multiple main characters in a story?” It's easy to think we understand the role the protagonist plays in a story.
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