Let’s say you have a character who is stuck at the bottom of a well in the middle of nowhere. Her phone is dead. What is she going to do? What are her options?
She can sit there and wait to be rescued.
She can scream for help.
She can say her prayers and wait to die.
Or she can take an action.
Is it possible for her to climb out? Are there rocks or branches in the walls that she can grab? Is there something she can throw? Is there any kind of object she can use to help herself? Is it narrow enough for her to “walk” her way up?
Whatever she does, as long as she does something, she is now an active character instead of a passive character.
And that makes all the difference. A resourceful character is a character we can admire and take interest in, even if that character is a villain. You rarely see an inactive villain.
A passive character is not interesting. But a character who initiates action is a character who can take control. And that is the kind of character who makes for a good protagonist. If the story is about George, then George should be the one taking most of the action. If something is being done to him, he must react accordingly. He cannot just sit there complaining. We will quickly get tired of him unless he tries to help himself. Worse, the story will lose interest. If George doesn’t do or say anything, whatever his problem is, then there really isn’t much of a story.
Sure, we can see his family doing something. Or the police. Or whoever. But they are all peripheral. if you want George to be a character we can love and root for, he has to be at the helm. He has to be resourceful. Otherwise, it’s not really a book about George. It’s just a situation with various people doing various things, but without a real center.
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