The 4 Main Characters As Literary Devices (2024)

This post on the 4 main characters as literary devices will help you write your novels and stories.

One of the easiest ways to tell if you have a plot and not just a story idea is by looking at the characters you’ve included in your story.

You need to pay special attention to the four main characters whogive your story the structure it needs.

They are:

Is It A Plot Or A Story Idea?

Beginner fiction writers often can’t tell the difference between writing about a series of events that happen and writing a story that will make the reader care.

If we don’t learn how to turn our ideas into a plot using storytelling techniques, readers are likely to abandon our books.

Are You Lost?

Have you ever read a book where things happen and an unidentifiable someone is there and you’re supposed to guess what’s going on?

Withholding information from your readers is not an option. Readers should never wonder what’s happening. It is annoying and amateurish.

If your story does not start with a problem, you’re in trouble – unless you’re an immensely talented writer who is able to mesmerise readers with your wordplay.

If you do not have a character with whom the reader can identify or empathise, as they face the problem, you’re making your life even more difficult.

The Star Of The Show

Something happens in your story that has a negative impact on an identifiable somebody’s (your protagonist’s) life. This results in a problem that they have to resolve. The problem should be significant enough to have meaningful consequences.

Because of this, our readers want the character to act. The problem should be defined and the character should be interesting so that readers want and need to find out what happens next. Leaving the story would make them feel uneasy.

This character has to appeal to the majority of your readers. It does not mean you must create a perfect character, but it is a good idea to make them likeable.

If you can’t do this, make them charming or amusing or give us an excellent reason to empathise with them. We don’t want readers todislike the protagonist so much they stop reading.

We also need to do this because our story is about this character – the protagonist – and we usually see the story through their eyes. We need to care. They drive the story. Their goals and motivations matter.

One of the easiest ways to make us care about the protagonist is by using other characters to show who they are.

Top Tip: Use ourCharacter Creation Kitto create great characters for your stories.

How To Use The 4 Main Characters As Literary Devices

1. The Protagonist

A good protagonist is one who wants something (story goal), and sets out to get it. We need a proactive character in this role. A passive character will kill your story. A great protagonistmakes decisions and chooses to act. These decisions and actions influence your story. John Gardner says, ‘Failure to recognise that the central character must act, not simply be acted upon, is the single most common mistake in the fiction of beginners.’

2.The Antagonist

On this journey, they meet resistance. This is usually a result of the antagonist’s actions. This causes the conflict that creates a plot. Remember that conflict must have consequences, so your antagonist has to be as strong as, or stronger than, your hero. This character should be believable. Their motivation should be reasonable from their perspective. This character is the hero of their story, and your protagonist is their villain. (Suggested reading: Very Important Characters)

3. The Confidant

Along the way, the protagonist needs some help. Provide a confidantor a sidekick to support them in this quest. You need this character so that your hero does not spend too much time alone thinking about things. The friend is a sounding board for the main character. As Chuck Palahniuk says: ‘One of the most-common mistakes that beginning writers make is leaving their characters alone. Writing, you may be alone. Reading, your audience may be alone. But your character should spend very, very little time alone. Because a solitary character starts thinking or worrying or wondering.’

4. The Love Interest

To make your protagonist three-dimensional and to complicate their life, you should add a love interest to the mix. This character reveals the protagonist’s strengths and more importantly, their weaknesses. Please remember that the character we use for this device does not have to be a romantic love interest. It just has to be somebody who is able to make your hero act irrationally and unreliably. Love makes fools of all of us. (Suggested reading:The Romantic Sub-Plot)

Why Are These Four Main Characters Important?

As literary devices, the main characters force us to show and not tell. The nature of the relationship between the protagonist and the other three leads to tangible interactions.

We have to talk to these characters and interact with them. We cannot avoid our worst enemies if they are determined to find us. We cannot ignore our best friends, unless we are prepared to risk losing those friendships. We cannot abandon the people we love most if we are human. (Suggested reading:The 3 Most Effective Types of Inner Conflict)

There will be other characters in your book, but they will be easier for your protagonist to deal with in a perfunctory manner. Too much of this type of interaction makes the character unsympathetic and boring.

(TOP TIP: Fill in Character Questionnaires for your main characters.)

So, you use your four main characters to create a plot when:

An action (inciting moment) somewhere (setting),
Taken by somebody (your antagonist),
Has a negative impact on somebody else (your protagonist).
This creates a problem
That your protagonist must solve (story goal) by acting,
Which leads to confrontations with the antagonist (conflict in scenes and sequels).
This goes on for approximately 60-80 scenes and sequels.
Your protagonist is supported by somebody (confidant or sidekick),
And made aware of their weaknesses by somebody else (love interest)
Until they achieve, or fail to achieve, the story goal. (ending)

In the next four instalments, I will discuss each of these four main characters as literary devices, and how you build a story around them, in more detail.

Top Tip: Use our Character Creation Kit to create great characters for your stories.

byAmanda Patterson

If you enjoyed this article, read:

Top Tip: Use ourCharacter Creation Kitto create great characters for your stories.