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On February 8, 2025, Kasie and Rex had a special guest, Hollie Whitener, in the studio to discuss here suggested topic of the character that proxies for the audience. Here are the show notes:

Theme for the day

The Proxy Character

Agenda

• Quick Catch Up
• What is a proxy character and what books need one?
• How do you know if you’re writing this character?
• How do you create a good proxy character?

Segment 1/2

One term from Star Trek is “cabbage head” which means, when something has to be explained to the audience, a character on the ship develops “cabbagehead” and forgets everything they learned at starfleet training. (link)

Also called a “newcomer” or “freshman”, this character creates a fish out of water experience and in their navigating the newness, we’re learning about the world, too. The Japanese word for it is “isekai” or a character spirited to a different world and forced to learn about it in order to survive.

Maybe there’s a matrix here, with the Y axis being what the character knows and the X axis being the character’s level of immersion. Let’s start with the Y axis.

If the character is brand new, knows nothing, they’re operating out of a sense of awe and confusion. Think Harry Potter in the first book. He didn’t know wizards were a thing, didn’t believe magic was a thing. Until he’s reminded of the times he’d made something happen when he had extreme emotions. Some examples:

• Harry Potter
• Tinkerbell
• Buzz Lightyear

If the character knows some things, but not a lot, they’re operating with their knowledge which might be inadequate but it’s not zero. This works best when the character is in a world the reader also understands some semblance of. This might be true in time travel novels like Outlander where the character knows stuff, but is asked to adjust to the limitations (usually) or a previous era. Some examples:

• Marty McFly
• Ang from The Last Airbender – he’d been sheltered and then asleep for years

If the character knows a lot about the world, but not their role in it, then they’re better equipped than the total newbie, but not exactly able to guide others. Think origin stories like Spider Man, or hero’s journey stories like Star Wars. This is also probably Hunger Games, when we think Katniss has seen the Games, knows about the Games, and is afforded a guide, but what it’s actually going to be like, she doesn’t know.

• Luke Skywalker
• Peter Parker

If the character knows the world but isn’t sure how this total newbie will fit, then they might serve as a kind of guide, albeit with limited knowledge. This could be Hamish in the Hunger Games, Ron Weasley in Harry Potter, or CP30 in Star Wars. They’re comfortable in their own experience, but now observant of the newbie, are uncertain what this new character will man for the world.

• Ron Weasley
• C3PO

Segment 3

How do you know you’re writing this character? Ask yourself, “What does the reader already know?” and then, “What will I have to explain to them?”

If you have to incorporate the exposition in a way that meets the character’s needs and also helps the reader keep up with what’s happening, you might need a character to act as proxy for the reader. This is called the “audience surrogate” according to this link. Examples include Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes stories and Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby.

The audience surrogate character should be relatable and should ask the questions your reader is likely to ask. Think Jim Halpert in The Office, he’s observing the shenanigans of Michael and Dwight and breaking the fourth wall to raise an eyebrow and say, with the audience, “isn’t this ridiculous?”

If your story takes place in an unexpected place, or includes unexpected elements, you need a proxy. Examples:

• Animals who can speak
• Animals that don’t exist in our world (i.e. dragons)
• Magic practiced by a specific set of characters, or by everyone
• War or violent conflict
• Space or some other planet (Dune, Star Trek)
• History or some bygone era (don’t assume everyone knows what life before the internet was like)
• Post apocalyptic or alternate history (Man in the High Castle, The Hunger Games, Divergent)
• Deviations on existing myths (werewolves, vampires, fairies, etc)

If you’re telling a story that doesn’t utilize modern conveniences like social media, or acknowledge historical events like the pandemic, or 9/11, the absence of those things might be obvious if not addressed. 

Segment 4

• Does this character have to be the protagonist? No, as we saw with Nick Carraway, we can let the character be an observer.
• Does the character have to be the narrator? No, as with cabbagehead characters from Star Trek, they can just ask strategically placed questions when needed.
• How soon does the character have to be introduced? The earlier the better so they don’t look like an obvious device in specific scenes. 
• Does the character need to have desires and an arc of their own? No, they can be flat and serve just their interpretative purpose.
• What should the character’s connection to the protagonist be? Friend, helper, cheerleader of some kind, maybe? Could they be an antagonist?

How do you create a good proxy character? Ask yourself what the audience needs to know and then have that proxy ask those questions in each scene.