The Story Behind Introducing My Second Protagonist
By Peggy Arthur
Greetings!
When I first started writing The Pretender’s Game, I tried giving every chapter a different character perspective. It seemed ambitious and artistic, until it completely stumped me.
Instead of one novel, I suddenly had multiple stories pulling me in different directions. Too many voices, too little clarity. I didn’t realize it then, but I was trying to create harmony from chaos without the structure to support it. And as much as I loved each character, the approach simply wasn’t holding. It felt like I was writing three different books at once.
The breakthrough came when I stopped trying to write forward and instead used James Scott Bell’s Write from the Middle method. Once I formalized the ending, once I understood exactly where my characters were headed, the entire story began to take shape. The chaos started to settle. Harmony emerged. I no longer had to guess my way through Act I. I only had to figure out how my characters would walk the path toward the ending I already knew.
And that clarity changed everything.
Revising Act I and Accidentally Creating a Chekhov’s Gun
When I returned to Act I to strengthen the opening, something unexpected happened. I found myself adding small, meaningful details—mythic elements, family symbols, ancestral echoes—that felt instinctively right for the story.
At the time, I didn’t realize what I’d done.
It wasn’t intentional.
It wasn’t planned.
Later, as I reread the draft, I realized I had naturally created a classic device known as Chekhov’s Gun.
Chekhov’s Gun teaches us that:
If you introduce something significant early, it must matter later.
It can be:
- a symbolic object
- a piece of mythology
- a ritual
- a line of dialogue
- a strange detail with hidden purpose
I hadn’t planned any of this. The story simply nudged me, whispering what needed to be planted. Only afterward did I recognize that the early seeds I scattered were exactly what the later story required.
It reminded me that sometimes our subconscious writes ahead of our conscious mind. Sometimes the story knows what it’s doing even when we don’t.
Once Act I was grounded and the ending was solid, something else clicked:
I finally understood where my B-line character belonged.
At first, introducing a major secondary protagonist felt intimidating. But once I had the shape of the story, their timing became obvious—another moment where harmony formed out of what once felt like chaos.
And here’s something important:
Fantasy fiction often introduces major secondary protagonists in Act II.
It’s part of the genre’s rhythm.
Think of:
- a mysterious ally who appears once the danger is real
- a guide who arrives after the hero crosses the threshold
- a rival who becomes a partner
- a character who holds the missing truth the protagonist can’t reach alone
Fantasy expands in Act II.
The world widens.
The stakes rise.
New allies step onto the stage.
Once I embraced that, the B-line character stopped feeling late and started feeling right on time. The story wasn’t resisting me—it was waiting for harmony.
Meeting the Story in the Middle
Reaching the middle taught me something profound:
- Sometimes the story doesn’t reveal itself from the beginning.
- Sometimes you have to meet it halfway to understand its shape, its timing, and its truth.
- And sometimes, the middle is where chaos finally becomes harmony.
If any of this resonates—feeling stuck, overwhelmed by multiple perspectives, or unsure where your story wants to go—I invite you to visit my blog. I recently posted a full reflection on how James Scott Bell’s Writing From the Middle helped guide me out of the maze and back into the heart of my novel.
Read the full review and craft breakdown on the blog.
And now I’d love to hear from you:
What’s the hardest part of writing a story for you right now?
Or if you’re not a writer—
What makes you fall in love with a story as a reader?
Drop a comment and let’s talk about it. Your insights always inspire me.
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Peggy Arthur 
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