Everyone wants to be a main character.
All the slogans, posters, pins and t-shirts subtly declare it.
But the truth is, everyone is a main character.
In their own story.
The term “main character energy” grew popular on online platforms like TikTok and Pinterest and encouraged people to star as the protagonist in their own life. The trend wasn’t about changing your personality or style. It was about changing how you act and take control of your life. It’s more about “How would I want to see myself onscreen?” than “the world revolves around me”.
Protagonists are designed to be compelling. Every detail of their personality and life has been drafted multiple times on paper before we ever meet them. As an audience, we follow them through awkward moments, tough times and triumphs. We watch them grow.
They’re not perfect but they embrace their past and evolve into their own person. They could make a ton of mistakes, but people keep reading and they keep going. A common piece of writing advice is to ensure that your main character is written to be active, not passive. That’s the mindset this trend aimed to capture.
You should be driving the train, not sitting in the passenger seat.
If everyone is the main character in their own life, that would inevitably make you one of these passengers (or a stop on the way). Meaning you don’t know what role you play in someone else’s life at any given moment. You could be a supporting character, a foil, or even the villain in a chapter you didn’t know existed.
Those decisions are outside of your control. You can’t insert your POV chapters anymore. We like to believe our version of the story is the most accurate. But every story has its own version, which could vary drastically from ours. There’s really no right or wrong story, just parallel ones.
So let’s face it, overthinking something that we said or accidentally stumbling, probably didn’t even make it onto the final draft of their story.
And that leaves the final question: If we’re all main characters busy carving our own stories, who’s the reader or audience?
Maybe there isn’t one, just an empty theatre hall or an overflowing bookshelf. “Main character energy” would be to continue leading our story, regardless of whether it will be heard.
And even main characters need a break in between chapters.
Sometimes we need to step away from our stories and lend an ear to someone else’s.
“Main character energy” isn’t about overshadowing everyone else around you or only thinking about yourself. It’s about owning your story, and understanding that everyone else’s is just as detailed and complex as yours is.
It’s still up to us what kind of main character we want to be. And it doesn’t dismiss the possibility of someone else taking the spotlight. That’s when the side character ends up stealing the show.
Because if you don’t pick up the pen, someone else will write your story for you.
