What are the core elements of my protagonist’s psychology?

Ask yourself the following questions to learn what makes your protagonist tick:

Who is my protagonist?

Exploring the basics of who your character is will give you a solid start in delving deeper into their psychology. Aim to describe your character in a paragraph — consider their personality, occupation, and relationship connections, the major life events from their past that are still affecting them today, and what their life is like as the story begins.

What does my protagonist believe?

A person’s actions, behaviour and the decisions they make hinge on the truths and lies they believe. And so it should be with our characters. Knowing what your character believes will help you to develop a compelling and meaningful plot that will challenge your character and help them grow.

It’s important to note that there are two kinds of beliefs you should consider. The first is a straightforward, standard belief. A belief is the conviction your character holds in a truth or something that could be said to be logically valid, such as “there’s nothing more important than family.”

The second kind of belief is a misbelief. A misbelief is the belief of a lie or untruth, and is derived from a misconception. An example would be “I’m not worthy of love.” Misbeliefs are formed, usually, in a person’s early life as a result of difficult or traumatic experiences, so be sure to consider the life events in your protagonist’s past when determining their misbelief?

What are my protagonist’s most prominent personality traits?

As with beliefs and misbeliefs, giving your characters both positive and negative personality traits will make them more realistic and give them a sense of three-dimensionality. No person is all good or all bad — so even the good guy should have a negative trait and your villain should have a positive trait. 

The interesting thing about personality traits is that both positive and negative traits can create both strengths and flaws in our characters. For example, stubbornness is a negative personality trait that might present the following flaws: only viewing a problem from a single angle and not letting others contribute to finding a solution. And yet, this trait might also present the following strengths: being fiercely loyal and a good leader, and fighting for what is right.

The internet is teeming with examples of positive and negative character traits, but without doubt, the best resources are the Positive and Negative Trait Thesaurus Guides by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. If you don’t already have these in your writing resource library, I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of each.