How to Make a Character's Inaction & Indecision Work

Inaction is an action. Indecision is a decision. 

It's often a terrible idea to write a truly passive protagonist, when it comes to the plot. You can have a characteristically passive protagonist--a character who wants to be the laziest person in the entire world, but feels she can't, because she needs to stop the antagonist. This sort of thing often creates a reluctant hero, where the protagonist hopes to quickly defeat the antagonist to get the status quo back, to return to her ordinary, passive lifestyle. 

But when it comes to the plot itself, the protagonist must be an active problem-solver. At least, she should be, if she's going to be a true protagonist. (And if she's not, there is a good chance she isn't the true protagonist, and she's just the viewpoint character of the story.)

With all that said, though, there are times when passivity can work, for a short while, when inaction is an action, and when indecision is a decision.

These moments are certainly exceptions, and not rules.

Pretty much the only way to make true passivity, inaction, and indecision work, is to tie significant consequences to them. When not acting carries consequences meaningful enough to change the trajectory of the story--either for the world or the character.

But perhaps this is best conveyed with some examples.

In The Lion King, in the third quarter (Act II, Part II), Simba's goal is essentially passivity. Hakuna Matata--it means no worries. And as Timon says, they've turned their backs on the world. He, Simba, and Pumba have pretty much decided they are going to do nothing but eat bugs, relax, and hang out. There is very little productivity. Very little action. And there is certainly no problem-solving.

Unfortunately, though, it carries great ramifications. Back in the Pride Lands, Scar has taken Simba's place as king, and he's overhunted the area to the point that animals are starving and his subjects are leaving the kingdom.

When Nala finds Simba, she asks him to come back, take his rightful place as king, and save the Pride Lands. Initially, he refuses. But he ultimately can't live with himself. He has forgotten who he is, and as a result, the whole Circle of Life has been thrown out of balance.

He realizes he must return and take his rightful place as king. Both for himself. And for his subjects.

In here, Simba's inaction worked, because it brought about terrible consequences.

However, it should also be noted, the only way it works for an entire quarter, is because not only is the film short, but because the audience gets to follow Nala and Scar in here a little bit. While Simba, the protagonist, isn't acting, they are. If this was a longer story, we may even argue that Nala is the protagonist, within this quarter, because she's the one being proactive.

If we didn't see what was happening to the characters in the Pride Lands, this would likely be a very boring quarter that would have brought the pacing to a grinding halt.

But thankfully, we see, that Simba's passivity is creating major problems.

A similar thing happens in Spider-Man 2, when Peter decides he's going to stop acting as Spider-Man. Unfortunately for New York, this comes with significant consequences. Crime is on the rise, and Doc Ock moves forward with his plans. A fire claims the life of an innocent that Peter believes he could have saved as Spider-Man. While Peter himself is succeeding in his personal life, the "world" is falling apart.

One of the reasons this example works, is because, while Peter is being passive in the primary plotline, he's being more proactive in other areas, like school, and in particular, his relationship with Mary Jane (the secondary plot). He's not just sitting around watching TV. He is not progressing the A Story, but he is progressing other areas of his life (and most notably, the B Story).

Eventually, of course, the negative consequences become too much, and he puts on his superhero suit again.

In a series I like, Trigun, we have a similar scenario. The protagonist, Vash, is characteristically passive, and he would love nothing more than to kick up his feet and enjoy a peaceful day. At one point in the story, Vash actually gives up fighting the antagonists, adopts a new identity, and lives a (relatively speaking) ordinary life. He feels like whenever he tries to stop his enemies, things turn out worse for him and his loved ones. So he abandons all that, and stops attempting. He chooses inaction.

Unfortunately, though, while it's terrible and costly being involved with the bad guys, it turns out not being involved with them is even worse. The main antagonist wipes out an entire town.

No one else can stop this guy, so choosing to do nothing, comes with steep consequences. It turns out, regardless of how costly it is to him personally, the world is better off with Vash at least trying to stop his enemies.

Inaction is a choice, but it needs to carry significant consequences.

So far, all of the consequences I've laid out have been rather "broad"--meaning they affect many people and large places. But it's also possible to layer on "deep" consequences--meaning they affect the character more personally.

In The Good Place, Chidi's fatal flaw is indecision. And the person who is usually most impacted by this, is himself. Whether he is trying to decide which soulmate to pick, or which muffin to buy, he feels stressed and tortured. In fact, his indecision led to his death. The reason he is in Hell, is because his indecisiveness caused those around him to suffer (so while he is most affected, it does still affect others).

It's the very fact that Chidi is so tortured by indecision, that the writers get away with such an indecisive main character. They also show how indecision can lead to worse outcomes than a wrong decision. A simple example is when the characters get to choose a pet for eternity. Chidi can't decide between a black puppy or a blond puppy. He takes so long to decide, that both puppies are gone by the time he returns, and he gets stuck with an owl, which attacks him.

Indecision is Chidi's personal hell, and it works because it carries negative consequences. (It also puts him in conflict with himself.)

So while, generally speaking, we want our main characters taking action and making decisions--being active problem-solving characters--you can get away with creating the opposite, on occasion. You just need to show how inaction, indecision, and passivity lead to worse consequences. This will compel the character to eventually do something.