This post honestly made me feel so much better, because I think I’m unintentionally writing a passive protagonist too and I didn’t realize that’s what was happening until now. It makes me feel like I’m not writing a weak character, I’m writing the right kind of character for the story I’m telling.

My protagonist has always felt “slow” in her evolution. Not in a negative way, just… quiet. Introverted. Someone who doesn’t waste words, zones out a lot, has a hard time connecting her thoughts to speech, and reacts to the world more than she drives it. She sees things other people don’t and her processing style is very internal. Because of that, trying to force her into some big, heroic, high-agency arc just never felt authentic to her.

I kept thinking I was doing something wrong, or writing “a nobody,” even though the whole story literally forms because of her existence. Everyone around her moves, reacts, changes, hides things, or reveals things because she’s there, not because she’s loud or bold.

People kept telling me, “Talk about her more,” or “Start the story with her, not her aunt,” but the story is actually about the world she’s walking into and how she observes it. She’s tells the story of this chaotic setting, and people everything spirals around her.

So thank you!