A reactive protagonist is a common reason for rejected manuscripts, and a common problem in premise novels—the novel explores a concept and shows “things happening,” yet there’s no real person with a problem. When a protagonist is reactive, they’re just someone who has “things happen” to them. The protagonist isn’t driving the plot, but only reacting to things that almost randomly happen.
Reactive protagonists are troublesome because they’re often a red flag that the story problem or core conflict isn’t personal enough to the character. If the problem mattered, then the protagonist would have reasons to act to resolve that problem. They can also indicate that a story that lacks narrative drive and feels aimless, or worse—pointless.
