: Re: What can I do if I hate my own protagonist? So I'm writing a fantasy novel, and I have my plot fairly fleshed out, and I have my main players, my world is built, and now I've started to

@Michele605

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While the other great answers focus on how to fix this as part of your whole story, there's another perspective that may also help.

Nobody just has character traits. They come from somewhere - past experiences, cultural biases, being part of a group which is subject to discrimination - a whole host of reasons.

In a YA book, particularly if it's action based, you probably don't want ten chapters on her life experiences from birth until the moment the present story starts, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't write some of them anyway. They don't have to end up in the book, but the effect on you from having written them will.

You can also sit down with your character and talk with her about how she feels, thinks, and what she wants from her life.

If you treat her as a separate person from yourself, not just a character in your story/mind, you can discuss all sorts of things that may not directly fit into your story, but will make her real and vibrant to you so you can make her real and vibrant to your readers.

If you give a character respect and recognition, she may just take on a life of her own and tell you all sorts of things you couldn't have imagined to start with.

This works by you suspending your disbelief, just like you will be asking your readers to do, and putting aside the practical concerns and requirements of your story and just allowing it to happen.

IMHO, the fact that this is somewhat lacking is what makes Harry Potter a very good character, but not a great one.

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