This is my first actual question, so I apologize in advance if I include something that is not suited for the forum, or if this is a duplicate of an existing west - though I DID try to find one that suits my case, without luck.
Here's the situation:
I'm writing a sci-fi story (only very little "fi"), that takes place in our time. I have a lot of characters "sketched out" already, and for a long time I felt that a certain one of these was the protagonist. This person is "randomly" pulled into the story (with a reasonable explanation within the universe), and ends up being a vital piece in an existing puzzle in the story.. However - and I realize that this may be solved by simply writing MORE - so far he's not very active in the plot...
I have a rather detailed outline for approximately 70-80% of the story, but have only written about 5-10%
In very short, the start of the story, and the way the "main" characters are connected, is as follows.
There is a certain "society", that consists of ordinary people who have achieved knowledge about certain things.
Peter (part of the society, young) has been kidnapped (which he is unaware of at first - makes sense in the story)
Adrian doesn't know Peter (or even anyone Peter knows), but obtains information from Peter (without knowing it at first)in a way that makes him valuable to the the other people connected to Peter.
Cleo (part of the society, but very young) is a Peter's niece, and meets Adrian "randomly" because of the information that he's now in possession of.. This information then pulls Adrian into the "society", which of course changes Adrian's life for good.
So far I have always thought of Adrian as the Protagonist, since hi's story is the one that makes the most sense in the way I want to reveal this "society", however I have heard that a protagonist is not the protagonist unless he actually consciously makes decisions.
Adrian WILL make decisions, but it's gonna take a while into the story...
Cleo undergoes a very interesting development during the story, and could potentially be the protagonist of a sequel, but I don't think it makes sense (so far) that she is the protagonist of this one...
I'm counting on Adrian and Cleo getting very close, and "sharing the adventure to save Peter"(just one part of the story of course), so I'm thinking that there may be more than one protagonist, but for the sake of my current point..
EDIT: Important note: I'm writing in the third person (I'm unsure if the terms omniscient is correct here, but I know what each of these characters are thinking and feeling), starting with Peter, then introducing Adrian and lastly introducing Cleo. They each get one of the first three chapters (if all goes according to plan). SO far I've written the first (Peter's) chapter, and some of the second (Adrian's) chapter. Also; knowing what different people think and feel is crucial to the story, since this i strongly connected to what the society is about.
Actual question: How do I know who is actually my main character of the story?
Will it reveal itself to me?
Should I simply trust my gut/original idea, or should I actively work on giving more influence in the story?
Answer
To answer your question, I have to talk about the difference between a plot and a story. A plot is a sequence of events that happen. A story is an arc of rising tension leading to a resolution. (These terms are sometimes defined differently, and even exactly the opposite, but that is what I am using them to mean here.)
You could have a plot about Joe going to work. He catches bus A, then transfers to bus B. At work he talks to Dave who suggests he take bus C and transfer to bus D. The next day Joe tries it and finds it gets him to work five minutes faster.
This is a plot. It has events. It even has a problem and a solution. But it is not a story. It is not a story because we have no emotional investment in Joe getting to work five minutes early, and Joe had nothing at stake in his decision to follow Dave's advice.
A story requires that Joe wants something, that it is important to him, and that it is difficult for him to get it. We have to sympathize with his desire (not approve, necessarily, but recognize it as a human desire, and Joe as a human person, and become engaged with his struggle). The question then becomes, how far will Joe go to get the thing he desires. When something frustrates his desire, will he give up or try again? Just how much is he willing to do, willing to sacrifice, to get what he wants? How much is he willing to bleed? And in the end, either he gets his desire, or he doesn't, or he learns the futility of his desire and achieve something more worth having. An arc of rising tension followed by release.
Plot puts flesh on the bones of this story structure. But the story is the story of a person. The person whose story is the main arc of you novel is your protagonist, though there may be other characters with their own arcs.
So if you have a plot but you don't know who your protagonist is, then you don't have a story yet. And since story is the master of plot, and plot must bend itself to the demands of story to create an arch of rising tension and a satisfying resolution around the desire of a character, you need to figure out your story and your protagonist before you get too far down the road of defining you plot.
The heart of every story is X wants Y and can't have it because of Z. Find those elements and you have your story, and once you have your story, you know who your protagonist is.
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