How do you decide who should be the MC?

SBibb · Jan 25, 2012

I've started plotting for a new young adult novel, a scifi mystery/thriller. But I'm running into an issue of deciding who should be the main character.

Char. 1 is part of the genetic norm-- genetically modified at birth to look similar to others, however, she's a bit taller than most, which gives her havoc in a world made for short people.

Char. 2 is more emotionally sensitive. She was naturally born, and thus looks very different from the norm. At the start of the story she is targetted by a group of bullies, and when the genetically modified people start showing up dead, she's blamed. Char. 1 seeks to help her redeem her name, and discovers a psychopath intent on wiping out the genetically modified people.

I'm seeing both perspectives being interesting, but I'm not sure I want to run a dual-protagonist story.

When you aren't sure who'd be the strongest character for a story, how do you decide who to be the MC?

missesdash · Jan 25, 2012

I always come up with my MC first. I actually assumed everyone did. Anyway I would choose based on personality, not storyline. Whoever would be more engaging and easy for readers to relate to. Depends on the POV of course, but that's one thought

Missus Akasha · Jan 25, 2012

If I am unsure of which character should be the lead, I think about which one would the readers relate to the most and root for. Or if I have more information about one character than the others then I go with that character. It's entirely your decision (of course), but going with Character 2 might make a very, very interesting story!

Becca C. · Jan 25, 2012

I always start with my MC first, so I've never had a choose-the-MC situation. But my MC is always the person with the most at stake. They're usually the most relatable, the person you want to root for the most. But they're always the person with the biggest, most interesting conflicts.

chocowrites · Jan 25, 2012

do either of those characters' voices feel more real to you?

I always go by voice.

SBibb · Jan 25, 2012

Hmm, you guys have good points. I've considered running dual pov, but I'm worried that might get confusing or unnecessary. I might try writing the first scene in both povs (writing one scene for each), and seeing which sounds better to me.

Nazurelle · Jan 25, 2012

I let the story decide for me. It began with it being the character that jumped out of the pages and attacked me more than the others did, but then, when the story had a major shift, I had to look deeper at this unsung hero in the story and I finally decided that this is really HIS story, and she's only one part of it.

I guess it's different because my story revolves around an epic love story, but that's how I ended up coming to the conclusion. I went with who was in more scenes, and who the story centered around more than anything else.

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Rhoda Nightingale · Jan 26, 2012

Whoever shouts the loudest and does the most interesting things. I also come up with characters before a storyline most of the time, but often, sometimes halfway through a draft, a character that I initially thought was peripheral will elbow everyone else out of the way and go, "Piss off--this is my story!" And they're usually right.

Stijn Hommes · Jan 26, 2012

SBibb said:
Hmm, you guys have good points. I've considered running dual pov, but I'm worried that might get confusing or unnecessary. I might try writing the first scene in both povs (writing one scene for each), and seeing which sounds better to me.

Just so you know. You are allowed to have multiple MCs and use two POVs (as long as you separate them well). If you don't feel comfy doing that, I would suggest using the MC that sounds most MC-ish to you.

KateSmash · Jan 26, 2012

I usually go with the person that has the most at stake. Who has the biggest dog in the fight, so to speak, and is in the position to get the most out of the world I've built around them.

And there's nothing wrong with dual POV. If both characters fit the MC role, let them share the spotlight. Just make sure their voices are distinct and you give the POV shifts clear transitions (usually a chapter or two per POV instead of hopping between them).

ladysarahii · Jan 26, 2012

I usually start with my MC, too. I'd say whichever character has the most potential to grow, who has the most at stake, and who you can see yourself 'getting inside the head of'.

Niiicola · Jan 26, 2012

SBibb said:
I might try writing the first scene in both povs (writing one scene for each), and seeing which sounds better to me.

That's what I was going to suggest. One of them will feel better than the other, I bet.

lastlittlebird · Jan 26, 2012

All else being equal, I would also think about what needs to be revealed and what needs to be kept from the audience in order to keep the tension up.
In this case, for example, you might not want the audience to be absolutely sure Char 2. didn't commit the murders until the reveal of the actual murderer. So use C1's POV.
Or you might go with the angle that C2 is used to being bullied and can't understand why C1 is helping her. So use C2's POV.

In either case you gain some tension if the truth isn't revealed by dual POV.

On the other hand, of course it's possible to create tension over other plot points (or even keep the tension with these plot points even with those POVs), and it can be very interesting to get "both sides" of a story.

Robert L.B. · Jan 26, 2012

Whoever is willing to take the first step and keep going. If they stop then someone else can claim their title. If they both decide to get going they can both be MC's until one is killed off in a horrible accident or does a face heel turn.

Alouette · Jan 26, 2012

I always start with characters so I've never had this problem before. I think you have to write about who you would enjoy writing about most, who will constantly drive the story forward and as others have said - whoever has the most at stake.

timewaster · Jan 26, 2012

My character and setting tend to arrive together before the story so this is not a problem I've ever had. My advice would be to try writing each of them and see which flows. Either could work, until you try writing it you won't know if either will.

DrunkenLilacs · Jan 26, 2012

My MC's tend to appear in my head first with a skeleton of their conflict, setting, and personality, and since I write in first person it becomes an immediate no-brainer who the MC will be. But I HAVE been in a similar situation where I contemplated switching whose pov a story should be told in, and in the end I just asked myself who I was more comfortable writing of. And usually once I'm attached to a character, it becomes more difficult to get used to a new pov.

Good luck!

Zoombie · Jan 26, 2012

SBibb said:
Hmm, you guys have good points. I've considered running dual pov, but I'm worried that might get confusing or unnecessary. I might try writing the first scene in both povs (writing one scene for each), and seeing which sounds better to me.

Harry Turtledove once wrote a 14 book series with almost 50 POV characters in total. Yes, I think 60% of them died horribly before the series was done, but still...if HE can do it, YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

Springs · Jan 26, 2012

I actually understand what you mean about having issues deciding MC's. I always thought it was obvious, too, until I designed the plot for my current WIP assuming that one of the characters was the MC, then took a test for MC's in a writing book of mine and found out that another of my characters tested as much more relevant. In the end, I decided on four POV characters, and the more I work on the project, the more equal in importance they all seem. *shrugs*

I suggest the multiple POV's if it feels right for the story (I've always liked multiple POV's). If not, just look at the events of your book and try to decide which character would make them more interesting.

schamber · Jan 27, 2012

Lots of considerations here, but I guess I'd say I'd put whoever will garner the most sympathy most quickly front and center. I don't keep reading if I don't care about the MC. That's not to say that a "bad" character can't be the MC, but that that character has to have some sympathetic qualities. From your description, it sounds like Character 2 is the more typical YA protagonist, but typical isn't always good.

jmlee · Jan 27, 2012

I had my answer before I read through and I'm still going to say it, although I think everyone else's responses are essentially facets of my big-picture response...

Whoever can last the longest. Whoever has ENOUGH of whatever it is that makes a character great to last as long as it takes to get through the story. That might be tragedy, tension, personality, voice, temper, whatever -- but if character development were a marathon you want the one who is not only going to endure the race you, as the author, set up - but also instigate extensions to keep it going longer.

Without knowing much about your story, here, I think character 2 sounds like a more reasonable choice for a main character, with character 1 coming in close as a main/support.

mellymel · Jan 27, 2012

I'm like Missdash, I get an idea/plot for a story and immediately the MC speaks to me.

However, I will say that I agree with jmlee. (I often do.

)

Marzipan · Jan 27, 2012

Maybe my brain is defective, but I come up with the concept or plot first more often than not. Have to say I can definitely relate where you are coming from. For my current WIP I wrote 12k words before I realized the main character's older brother would make a much better lead.

Just a few reasons why I decided to swap them: The older brother was MUCH more outgoing, so I knew the story could move forward at a better pace. He had concrete (notice I didn't say realistic) dreams and goals, so this gave me a better idea of how he would react to certain situations and gave me a better sense of who the character was as a whole. He also knew what was important to him in his day-to-day life, and for the story it mattered.

I'm not suggesting that a character has to be or have any of those things, a few young adults can't even tell you their favorite food or color, but these are just some ideas

Good luck.

SBibb · Jan 28, 2012

You guys have definitly brought up some good points, and it is interesting reading through this.

Right now I think I'm planning on writing from a dual POV (tossing around the occassional antagonist pov) and seeing how it goes from there. Thanks! :-D

Windcutter · Jan 30, 2012

If you want a single POV and it is a mystery story, I would have gone with the character who makes bigger discoveries, whose world is changing, whose backstory provides fewer spoilers about the nature of the mystery.

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