Part

Protagonist

You might say: main character, hero, MC

The character whose goal drives the story. Truby: one specific desire line runs through the whole book.

What it does

Gives the reader someone to follow, and a goal to measure progress against.

Ask

What does she want, and how will we know if she gets it?

Trouble

She reacts but never chooses; things just happen to her.

What to look for

1. Choices that drive the story
2. Progress measured against what she wants

Parts

• Want and need: The want is the outer goal she chases.
• Character sliders: Sanderson’s three dials for a character: how relatable, how proactive and how capable they are.

Connections

• See also: Character arc

Sources

1. John Truby, Blockbuster User’s Manual, pp. 16, 22Is it a single, specific goal that extends throughout the story?

Use it on your project

teardown-apply: hold "Protagonist" (protagonist) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/fiction-writing/ against my project

Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.

An AI agent wrote this map with the teardown skill. It can contain errors: check the sources before you rely on a part. About and legal