Want to be the main character? Start writing.
What does it mean to be the main character?
According to Urban Dictionary, the main character is “someone who you can make a movie about and have it be interesting they are quirky and not basic”. This popular phrase is derived from the complexities of main characters in movies, shows, and books. Compared to supporting characters like the best friend or the love interest, the main characters take control, experience more exciting moments, and some type of story that is interesting enough to talk about. Through social media platforms like TikTok, teens and young adults everywhere are aspiring to become the main character in their own lives.
My Experience
While I don’t exactly want my life to be movie-like, I like to channel “main character energy” to express myself, gain confidence, and be more decisive in my day-to-day life. For example, whenever I feel uneasy or insecure, I find myself reacting in situations like how I would imagine a confident, successful main character to act. As someone who loves to play it safe and lives a relatively unexciting day-to-day, I love the power I feel when I can channel main character energy and make bold decisions for the better.
Write to feel like the main character.
According to TikTok and trends, some popular main character activities that anyone can do include singing in the shower, dancing alone in front of a mirror, and blasting music with the windows down on a night drive. While these are activities that I personally enjoy and regularly practice to feel empowered, I also think that they don’t have the same effect on everyone.
Through my journey in finding and empowering myself as the main character of my own story, I’ve discovered the ultimate main character activity that anyone can practice to feel like the main character: writing. I have always loved to write, but have really leaned into it as a hobby turned habit throughout the last year. As a result, I have never felt more interesting, empowered, and confident.
Why it works
Imagine any coming-of-age movie, show, or book. The main character almost always journals, writes a letter, or a song. And, in a movie, the things that they write are always spoken through a voiceover while they’re writing it or while someone’s reading it. To me, the writing that the main characters do, accompanied by that voiceover in the movies, is the epitome of main character energy.
Our lives are like an ongoing coming-of-age story. As we continue to work our way through growing pains and evolve into the people we want to become, the writing that we do reflecting on our experiences, feelings, and aspirations can be very freeing and empowering. Not only can writing help to express emotions and clear our minds, but it can also help to develop the next chapters in our lives. Therefore, writing is the ultimate main character activity.
How to get started
If you’re looking to become the main character in your own story, try writing in any way you feel most comfortable, whether that’s journaling or blogging or even songwriting and letters. While you write, try imagining your own coming-of-age voiceover moment for ultimate main character energy.
When you become the main character, you feel invincible and in control of what’s coming. Everyone deserves to feel like that.
