Character Agency:
Why It Matters and How to Strengthen It in Your Story
Why Character Agency Matters:
Brain science has shown that stories aren’t just entertainment—they help us understand the world. Good stories engage us emotionally, let us explore what might happen if certain circumstances arise, and enhance our social reasoning. And they activate our brains in multiple ways, triggering our emotional centers and causing a rise in dopamine, a feel-good brain chemical.
Characters with agency drive the story forward, making choices that shape events rather than being dragged along by them. Active characters carry us along in their wake, allowing us to experience the journey through mirror neurons, which helps us to empathize with their experiences.
In short, good stories light up our brains.
Clear Goals:
Start with clear goals. Readers want to know what your character wants and why they’re motivated to keep going, even when things get tough. And they should get tough. Give your character specific wants, needs, and motivations that influence the decisions they make. Then put those goals in conflict with their beliefs, their best friend’s ideals, or the rules by which they have always lived. Don’t forget to let your reader know what those goals are. Your character’s goals need to be shown throughout the narrative to keep us along for the ride.
Meaningful Choices:
Avoid easy choices. Readers want to see characters navigate tough situations. Create situations where your character must decide between real alternatives, each carrying serious consequences. Show their indecision, their reasoning, their emotional state as they must choose between what they want and what is needed in the moment. And make those choices and consequences messy. We don’t always get it right the first time and often have to learn through experience. So do your characters. A series of right choices isn’t nearly as interesting as a series of incorrect choices before getting it right.
Consequences in Action:
Ensure the character’s decisions affect each scene along the way, as well as the story outcome. This reinforces their role as an active participant rather than a reactive one. Show the consequences of your character’s choices and actions and how they affect the character. As stated above, make them messy, like real life. Give us access. Let the reader inside, so they can understand how the character feels about each new situation that unfolds and forces them to make another choice.
Balance External Forces:
Create outside pressures, but be sure the character still makes choices rather than being entirely controlled or forced to move forward by circumstance. Agency means acting, not just reacting. It means the character chooses to own their destiny, especially at the climactic moment when they are forced to make their biggest, most consequential choice. Don’t let them stumble into a choice, make them act decisively.
Examples of Character Agency:
Here are some examples of books with characters that exhibit solid agency (BEWARE: Spoilers ahead.):
Middle Grade:
Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston
Amari chooses to enter the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs to find her missing brother, and her decisions continually alter the direction of the story.
Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed, by José Pablo Iriarte
Benny actively navigates his insecurities and family’s expectations, choosing to embrace his unique path and musical identity, despite his initial lack of talent.
Young Adult:
Wicked As You Wish, by Rin Chupeco
Tala embraces her heritage and magical abilities, choosing to confront the challenges of rescuing Avalon alongside her friends, rather than remaining a passive observer, even when she is offered the chance to sit it out.
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi, Jam confronts the hidden monster in her city, making courageous choices that shape the story, rather than waiting for events to unfold around her, despite her fears and desire to stay out of the fray.
Adult:
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Nora makes pivotal choices in exploring alternate lives, and her decision to embrace her own life gives the novel its emotional resolution.
Can’t Spell Treason without Tea by Rebecca Thorne
Reyna drives the story through bold choices, from leaving her post to opening a tea shop, ensuring her decisions, not circumstances, shape the plot.
Summing Up Character Agency
Character agency is crucial because it ensures that characters actively drive the story through their choices, making narratives more engaging, believable, and emotionally resonant.
Often, when our characters don’t have agency, it’s because we are being too nice to them. Find ways to force your character to make hard choices and suffer the messy consequences.
Drop us that dopamine. Light up our brains by taking us on a meaningful journey.
Your readers will thank you for it.
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