Agency is about a character striving to obtain their goal versus passively waiting for someone to hand it to them. And by definition, striving is about struggle. So the things the character wants are not easy to achieve. The achievement requires taking deliberate action. Welcome to the Write It Scared podcast. I'm your host, Stacey Fraser, a formerly repressed creative soul, turned fiction writer, story editor, and author accelerator certified fiction book coach. At Write It Scared, we tell the truth about why writing a novel is so hard by acknowledging that most writers grapple with two stories: the one they want to put on the page to the best of their ability, and the often subconscious internal story that prevents them from doing it. This show is designed to help you identify and rewrite the internal narrative holding you back while you discover and write the story you want to tell and learn all the tools to help you do that successfully. Join me each week for a new episode where we'll talk about writing to deepen our understanding of the craft and of ourselves as writers. Writing a novel is an inside job that we do not do alone. Welcome to Write It's Scared. I'm glad you're here. Let's dive in. Hi, writer. Welcome back to the Write It Scared Podcast. I'm your host, Stacey Fraser. This is where we talk about the brave and messy act of writing our fiction novels so that we can do it with more clarity and more confidence and not feel so alone. Today we are going to be talking craft, and we're going to be talking about how to give your character agency and why it matters. In our last solo episode on the podcast, we talked about how to create narrative drive, and that was in episode 76. And narrative drive is the force that keeps readers turning the pages. And so if you want to go back and listen to that, um, I will link the episode in the show notes. There's a lot of factors that go into narrative drive. And if I had to name one that was absolutely essential, I would point to character agency, especially for your protagonist. Now, character agency is one of those things that we are often told that we need as writers. But all too often I see many of us struggle with what that actually means and how to create it and get it on the page. So today we're going to talk about it and break it down. So let's start at the beginning. What is character agency? Well, if I could sum it up in just two words, they would be striving and deciding. If your character isn't striving for something they want, there is no story. I mean, have you ever loved a story where the main character wanted nothing, took no action, and was never challenged in any way? Yeah, me either, because those books don't get read. I love Lisa Cron's definition for what a story is. And this comes directly from her book, Wired for Story. If you haven't read it, highly recommend, and I will pop a link for it in the show notes. But Lisa writes that a story is how what happens, which is the plot, affects someone, the protagonist, who is trying to achieve what turns out to be a difficult goal. This is the want and how that character changes as a result. And this is their character growth or their art. So agency is about a character striving to obtain their goal versus passively waiting for someone to hand it to them. And by definition, striving is about struggle. So the things the character wants are not easy to achieve. The achievement requires taking deliberate action, not just watching and waiting for whatever to happen. So in order for the character to take deliberate action, they must have the ability to decide to make meaningful choices, read difficult choices that will affect change in their lives and therefore in the story. And they so they have to have some belief that change is possible for them. So they can't be completely without hope. And here's why it matters. When you give your character agency, you give your reader a reason to root for them and to keep turning the pages, even if the reader is watching this character make some really stupid decisions. Agency does not mean your character is perfectly in control of the situation. Rather, it means they will choose how to engage with the circumstances in front of them, and they will likely create more uncomfortable decisions because of the actions they take. That's the point. We want to make these characters uncomfortable as they go forward. Agency also does not mean that the character will make the moral or right choice. Characters can make really bad choices. They can be wrong, they can fail, and they can still have agency. So remember, it's about striving, not winning or getting it right. So if you remember these three main ingredients, you will achieve character agency. The first is motive, then means, then opportunity. So the character needs a motive. This is why it matters. The motive is what the character wants and why they want it. So your character must desire something and be willing to take a risk to get it. They have to have a goal, even if they mean, even if that means that they don't want anything in their life to change and they're holding on to that. So, but the goal's got to be strong enough to make them step out of their comfort zone once they are challenged. Their motive is what is going to fuel their choices. So don't go easy on them. So a character with a clear motive is not just being dragged through the story. They're making decisions because something matters deeply to them. This is what keeps your reader rooting for them and propels the narrative forward. Readers want to see the character take charge of their own fate. So, for example, in the Hunger Games, Katniss's motive is to protect her little sister Prim and to provide for her family and survive. So this is what drives her action, her decisions to volunteer and then later defy the capital. But having a strong motive isn't enough to create meaningful change, which is what a story is about. Just because we want something badly doesn't mean we can make it happen. What we need is means. And means equates to the how the character wants, whatever their goal is, will be made possible. So means are the resources, the skills, the abilities that the character has or can acquire to help them achieve their goals. So here's a silly example. I mean, I can want to go to the movies, but if I don't have the money for the ticket or the deviousness to sneak into the theater or the time to catch the show, then my want to go to the movies is nothing more than a wish. And stories are not made of wishes. So why means matters to character agency. We want the character to solve their own problems or at least try to. It doesn't mean that they're going to make good decisions. Uh, it doesn't mean that they're going to win, but we want to see them take action with the tools that they possess, be that intelligence or charm or a special skill set. If a character's problems are solved for them, the reader has less respect and less interest in them. For example, in the Hunger Games, Katniss uses her archery skills, her wits, and her wilderness knowledge to survive. Now, the final piece of character agency is opportunity. And this is the when and where the character will go after what they want. So, in order for a character to take action to effect change, they have to be presented with the opportunity to do so. The opportunity is a circumstance that's going to allow them to employ their means and hopefully get what they want or fall flat on their ass. Either way, it's an important piece of agency. Why it matters? A character needs to be able to recognize the opportunity in front of them and act on it, even at great costs. So what that means for you as the writer is that you have to create these opportunities for them in the story. If you don't present them with an opportunity, then they are often stuck in a pattern of waiting for things to happen. For example, in the Hunger Games, Katniss has the opportunity to use her wits and wilderness knowledge, both her means, to threaten suicide with the deadly nightlock berries. When the gamekeeper announces that instead of two winners, there can be only one. Is it risky? Hell yes. But her gamble pays off. Katniss and Peter survive the games. That is an example of crafting an opportunity to use a skill set to get the thing the character wants. Which in this case is survival. So for recap, a character has strong agency when they have a motive that's personal and compelling, when they possess or acquire some sort of means, which are skills, knowledge, tools to pursue their goal. And they encounter an opportunity to make a difficult decision to take action in service to getting what they want. If one of these is missing, the character risks being passive. They don't have a motive. We don't care what happens to them. They don't have any means, they can only wait to be saved. And if they don't have an opportunity, then they get sidelined from the story. So the takeaway is you want to give your character the reins. Character agency is the rocket fuel behind narrative drive. And so without clear motive, means, or real opportunities, your protagonist risks becoming a passenger in their own story, which is boring. But when your character strives, even if they're wrong, even if they fail, and when they decide to act in the face of conflict to pursue their goal, that's where your story becomes engaging to your reader. So as you shape your scenes and you draft or revise, keep asking yourself, what does my character want externally right now? What's the concrete goal they're going after and why does it matter to them? What is it going to cost them to pursue it? What tools or traits can they use to help them achieve that goal? And what hard decision can I force them to make right now in this situation? When you consider all those elements and you pull them in, that's where your story really comes a lot. All right, writers, I hope this episode on character agency was helpful and it helps you clear up why agency matters and give you a better idea of how to cultivate it on the page. And I will see you next week when I'm back with a new guest. Until then, take care. Thank you for listening to the Write It Scared podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please make sure to hit the follow button so you never miss an episode. And please leave a review. Reviews help other writers like you find the voices and messages they need to hear to continue to write their stories. Let's lift each other up. Remember, you can be scared and still be unstoppable. I'll see you next week.