Create a Compelling Protagonist
Go beyond writing a ‘sympathetic’ Protagonist. Dig deeper than giving your Protagonist a ‘flaw.’ That is surface level writing.
In almost every movie, the most critical character is the Protagonist.
- Typically the story is told through their perspective.
- Their goal usually dictates the end point of the plot.
- All the other primary characters are somehow linked to the Protagonist.
- Normally they go through the most significant metamorphosis.
- And the Protagonist acts as the main conduit into the story for a script reader and moviegoer.
So guess what? You need to create a Protagonist that grabs a reader’s attention and keeps it for 100+ pages.
How to do that?
That’s what we will be exploring in my upcoming 1-week online class “Create a Compelling Protagonist”.
Go beyond writing a ‘sympathetic’ Protagonist. Dig deeper than giving your Protagonist a ‘flaw.’ That is surface level writing. In this class, you will learn an approach that will help you immerse yourself into this key character, and craft a Protagonist worth writing… and reading.
This class not only explores proven ways to help you create a compelling character, it also lays out an approach you can use as the groundwork for developing the rest of your story.
Seven lectures, 24/7 forum feedback, insider tips, 90-minute teleconference, and the opportunity to workshop your story’s Protagonist [or Protagonists].
Plus, if you’re a fan of the movies Bridesmaids, The Social Network and Up, we’ll be using those as our study scripts. They offer a diverse set of Protagonists and yet the approach we will study next week shows how a writer can craft such compelling and different lead characters.
It all starts Monday, March 23. You can learn more and sign up here.
Here are some observations from writers who have taken the class with me:
“One week of Creating a Compelling Protagonist challenged me in ways I couldn’t challenge myself. If you want to develop your ideas, this is a rare opportunity at great value. Thank you, Scott!” — Brianna Garber
“I’ve taken a ton of classes, both inside and outside film school, and this was one of the best. The material provided a ton of inventive ways to approach the development of a solid, three-dimensional protagonist, and helped me dig deeper into the character’s internal world — forcing me to reject easy solutions, the first ideas that came to mind.” — Jason Young, 2016 Black List Feature Writer Lab selectee
“Scott generously offers up his knowledge, insight, time and resources, so that in just one week a fully formed character can begin to lead you into your story.” — Ellen Musikant
“A class that is perfect for anyone looking to learn the primary character archetypes, their psychology, and how they relate to the protagonist. The lectures provide thorough examples of these character archetypes in modern and classic movies, and the online forums were a hotspot to ask questions about the material or anything related to screenwriting. Scott’s style of teaching is highly accessible to anyone, as he creates an environment of easy, open discussion on the subject of character and welcomes any other questions you may have along the way.” — Kristen Vincent, sold spec script “Fetch”
This 1-week Craft course is coupled with another class: Write A Worthy Nemesis. That begins Monday, April 5. For information on that session, go here.
This is the only time I will be offering these Craft classes in 2020, so take this opportunity to workshop your own story’s Protagonist by signing up now!
