: Re: Does my protagonist have to succeed? I'm thinking about a YA dystopian novel and have planned it quite thoroughly. However, when I look back, the antagonists tend to always be a few steps

The protagonist does not have to win in his main goal, but he has to win in something. Unless you are clearly writing a tragedy.

That the hero keeps failing is quite typical. What readers would expect is that shortly before he suddenly turns things around and wins the final confrontation, something happens that explains why. He understands why he keeps failing, he discovers the antagonists weakness, he gets some help, etc.

You absolutely can write the story so that he keeps failing and only in the end succeeds, but the story must lead to it. All the clues come together, the hero finally gets the lesson - if all his failures set him up for the final success, by making him stronger, smarter or by teaching him something important, it doesn't feel forced.

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: Re: Does my protagonist have to succeed? I'm thinking about a YA dystopian novel and have planned it quite thoroughly. However, when I look back, the antagonists tend to always be a few steps

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: Make sure your character remembers things. A street-smart person is someone who has noticed a pattern in life and uses that to their advantage. He noticed that a gang always hangs out in

: Is it a good idea to have a manifesto for my series, and where should it go I want to create a series for my books. The books are unrelated, and can be read in any order. This would be

: What journals publish surreal fiction? I'm trying to place a short story that is surreal. So while it has science fiction elements, it isn't really science fiction. At the same time it's a

: How to get started as a freelancer? I'm a fairly prolific writer and have been published by several free publications and journals, and I want to try my hand at freelancing. The only problem

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: Re: Does my protagonist *have* to succeed? I'm thinking about a YA dystopian novel and have planned it quite thoroughly. However, when I look back, the antagonists tend to always be a few steps

More posts by @Sue2132873

: Make sure your character remembers things. A street-smart person is someone who has noticed a pattern in life and uses that to their advantage. He noticed that a gang always hangs out in

: Is it a good idea to have a manifesto for my series, and where should it go I want to create a series for my books. The books are unrelated, and can be read in any order. This would be

: What journals publish surreal fiction? I'm trying to place a short story that is surreal. So while it has science fiction elements, it isn't really science fiction. At the same time it's a

: How to get started as a freelancer? I'm a fairly prolific writer and have been published by several free publications and journals, and I want to try my hand at freelancing. The only problem

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: Re: Does my protagonist have to succeed? I'm thinking about a YA dystopian novel and have planned it quite thoroughly. However, when I look back, the antagonists tend to always be a few steps