Living Like The Main Character
What makes a main character? Is it their personality, situation, or simply the storyline around them that brings the most attention? Think back to your favorite characters: in many ways, we all adopt the mentality of wanting to become the main character of our own story, to be involved with action, drama, suspense, and horror depending on the genre you enjoy. What if I were to tell you, that you’re already the main character in your life, you simply have been denying it for so long that it became a reality to the point you believe to be living in the background. There are many ways of changing that mindset from how main characters are made, the law of attraction in science, and self-concept overall to stop negative thinking. By the time you finish reading, you, the main character, are well on your journey to begin your first arc.
Point One- Authors Creating Main Characters
Main characters have many traits, thoughts, and feelings that draw us into their stories and goals. In the media, we praise and idolize these characters behind a screen wondering what it would be like to live in the world they do. Although many haven’t experienced the paranormal or haven’t been visited by intergalactic beings, there are other ways of creating the philosophy of being a main character without danger and complications. We can look at this from another creator’s point of view such as authors and video game developers.
In the article from Purdue University, it brought attention to how main characters must have “goals” in order for the audience to have a connection on their journey. The same can be applied to us: we all have goals and dreams that we simply want to achieve that require motivation and pride to share and have support in response. Not only do authors give the main characters goals they also have ‘conflicts and obstacles’ they must face in order to achieve these goals in life to reach where they need to be. In everyday life we as main characters have obstacles and conflicts that we must face in order to achieve what we want, whether it’s school work, family, or simply lack of time.
Not only do we as people relate to characters through their personal struggles, but also through their actions and morals overall. Characters displaying certain personalities and characteristics we sometimes see in ourselves make them more believable in a sense. Not only do they show their personal lives and how they live, but they also give us a bit of a boost of motivation. In the article, they provide a good comparison to a character struggling to pay her bills with minimum wage. On the other hand, if she was driving an expensive car and spending a load of money on a meal the audience wouldn’t find her relatable and wouldn’t deem the character as one they would want to live as. Well, that’s if you’d prefer to live a life of riches or a life of modesty depending on person to person.
Point Two- Self Concept
One thing we can all agree on is that without self-evaluation we forget how our emotions and mindsets can truly affect our reality and our lives as the main character. The most important thing when paying attention to self-concept is how we apply it to ourselves in order to begin character development. Many characters go through stages and struggles that result in reevaluation on what they could have done better or if they could’ve changed their outcome. Sometimes a supporting character (or in our case a friend or parental figure) will step in and advise to help them figure out what is the right option. Sometimes the character will have to give up certain ideals and morals that they were taught to do the best thing and that’s a sign of character development and self-concept.
In many studies, “self-concept is based on the notion of how a person evaluates their behavior from how they interact with others”. For example, we watch shows and see our main characters and how they act, their interactions with the other characters reflect how we interpret their character, but what about the characters themselves? Sometimes the main character’s actions can come off as selfish or arrogant or simply too optimistic for others’ liking; However, we sometimes get a glimpse into the characters’ past and what brought them to be the way they are. This is not only another form of self-concept but character development. Certain events, such as tragedies or even massive achievements can lead to character development, whether it’s good or bad.
Now let’s take a look at a well-known character known as Ronald Weasley. We remember this boy in the movies for his red hair and short temper with Hermione. However, in the books, Ron was well known for his character development, even before the ‘Half-Blood Prince’ installment. Sometimes when his character is called out for being childish or having an ego when going about intense situations, his actions and reasons are there to look at. He has habits of showing jealousy based on how he grew up in a low-class family within the wizarding world; However, in the first book, the first interaction he has with Harry is sharing a sandwich even if it was the last thing he had to eat. Although Ron was upset with Hermione for feeling inferior he still stepped in to save her after hurting her feelings. Weasley has his moments of self-concept, he looks at his actions and how to fix them.
Point Three- Law of Attraction
Many main characters or even side characters do this although we don’t see directly in their thoughts, we can tell through actions where character development and self-concept are placed. If we apply self concept in everyday life we’re more likely to achieve our goals and knock down old habits a lot faster. Of course, self-concept is a hard one to remember. That’s where arcs(problems taking place over a period of time) are placed for a person to grow. The purpose of self-concept is to be better than we were yesterday and that’s what makes you even more loved as the main character.
Believe it or not, our minds dictate what’s attracted to us based on our simple desire based on our mindset. Many have argued that the law of attraction is one based on faith and spirituality but in reality, it works based on science. Our subconscious mind controls how our reality unwinds before us; if we think of the worst possible outcome then it shall show up in your reality, adding another obstacle for you as the main character. Many characters arguably do use the law of attraction to their advantage, for example, a character plans and escapes with the hope that they’ll be free, although they acknowledge the possibility of failing nine times out of ten they ignore their subconscious and doubt and focus on the desired result. As you can imagine the character succeeded and lives to see another day to continue their journey, the law of attraction and affirmations go hand and hand if you tell your subconscious and trick it into believing something is true then it will simply be.
In the following article from Jack Canfield, he talks about how our focus on what we want and what we desire will flow back to us; “When you focus on good things in your life, you start to attract positive things in your life.” This argument is a good one to look at especially if you’re overrun with a negative mindset about your life. If you’re so busy comparing your life to others you’ll never be able to live or work hard to live the life you want to. As humans we tend to look at the vanity aspect of our lives, especially seeing celebs or characters living the life we wish to live. Erasing this mentality of only focusing on the negative rather than the positive will bring forth positive attention from the universe and also be healthy for yourself overall.
When researching the law of attraction I’ve learned several things; one that especially helped me is the mentality that everyone and everything is me pushed out. If you continue to remain negative you will continue to attract negative things, it’s the same concept of imagining the negative of a situation; if you manifest the thoughts of it happening it will happen. As the main character you want the world to revolve around you, what you attract should be what you want from this life, not the opposite. Having a positive mind and overall living is the key to the law of attraction on what we all desire not only as a main character but as a normal human. Erase that negative mindset and replace it with the positive and watch all that you desire gravitate towards you.
Being the main character is looking within oneself and deciding your journey on your own, it’s about how you live in this world overall that makes an impact on yourself. The act of self-concept is forcing yourself out of the mentality that ‘you’re not’ the main character when you are. There are no more excuses: you can have that dream job, that mansion, and that lifestyle of adventure through hard work by simply getting out of that mindset of being in the background. This is your life, always remember; that you are the protagonist of your life, not the antagonist.
Resources/Citations:
Purdue Writing Lab. “Writing Compelling Characters // Purdue Writing Lab.” Purdue Writing Lab, 11 Nov. 2020, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/creative_writing/characters_and_fiction_writing/writing_compelling_characters.html.
Canfield, Jack. “A Complete Guide to Using the Law of Attraction.” Jack Canfield, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.jackcanfield.com/blog/using-the-law-of-attraction/.
Palomino, Maria del Carmen Pegalajar. An Analysis of Self-Concept in Students … – Sage Journals. 15 May 2017, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244017708818.
Nanou, Electra, and Electra Nanou (166 Articles Published). “7 Reasons Why Character Development Is Important in Video Games.” MUO, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.makeuseof.com/why-character-development-important-video-games/.
Rowling, Joanne Kathleen. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Vol. 6, Bloomsbury, 2005.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Vol. 1, Bloomsbury.
