Antagonists and Opposing Forces

Writing Antagonists and Opposition

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Definitions to apply

• An antagonist is anything that prevents or delays the protagonist from reaching her goal. It can be a person, place, object, machinery, natural feature, or concept or belief.
• Judge an antagonist by its effect, not its intent. A character who just wants to take his wife to dinner can still be an antagonist if the outcome blocks the protagonist.
• A villain is a more or less conscious antagonist who wants to steal the protagonist's goal for himself.
• Every villain is an antagonist, but not every antagonist is a villain.
• Antagonists represent the protagonist as she currently is, and they push her to stay put. Their job is to supply enticements to return to the comfortable past.

Building the antagonist list

1. List all major antagonists: people, places, objects, machinery, natural features, concepts or beliefs.
2. Next to each one, note which element of the protagonist it mirrors (fear, strength, flaw, love, hatred, prejudice, etc.).
3. Fill out a Character Emotional Development Plot Profile for every major antagonist.
4. Optionally, attach a magazine picture, a photo of someone who embodies the character, or an actor's image to the plot planner for each main villain, to spark ideas.

Plot planner mechanics (sticky notes)

• Add to the energetic markers the external antagonist in control at each major turning point.
• Give any antagonist who recurs and poses a significant challenge its own sticky-note color.
• Place scenes where the antagonist holds power above the line, using the dramatic action plot note color. Above-the-line scenes create energy and keep the story moving.
• Place scenes where the protagonist is in charge, safe, or calm below the line. Below-the-line scenes slow the story.
• For each antagonist-controlled scene, also add a note in the character emotional development plot color showing the effect on the protagonist.
• Then stand back and assess the flow of energy between protagonist and antagonists and the overall intensity.

Internal antagonists (richest material)

• Flaw: the protagonist is her own antagonist whenever she blocks herself. She must overcome the flaw and release the resulting flood of emotion for the character to transform and the story to end.
• Fear, concrete: if fear is tied to an external foe, the scene's energy surges whenever that foe is mentioned or present, which creates anticipation. The more powerful the foe, the stronger the effect.
• Fear, abstract: fears like failure, being hurt, a wrong decision, loss, or death create tension about when they will affect the action. Use what she fears to show her emotional makeup and what she must finally confront.
• Hatred: it controls her, whether it is aimed outward (a person, job, situation) or inward (her choices, thoughts, beliefs). A direct confrontation with the hated thing creates conflict, tension, and suspense. A looming threat of it creates reader anxiety. It must eventually be faced and relinquished.

Timing and intensity

• Antagonists hit hardest in the middle, when the protagonist enters the new world. Expect her to swing between emotional extremes.
• Intensity should rise the deeper she goes, as antagonists block her forward movement more rigorously.
• If the opposition has been held back, bring it on in the middle to expose the flaw at that stage.
• Adversity reveals what is already in the character. It does not build character.
• Use as many antagonists as needed to show a range of emotions. Tougher and cleverer challenges lead to a greater transformation.
• A protagonist who never fails, looks foolish, or is lonely cannot change. Let her fail, and raise the pressure instead of retreating.

Never repeat, deepen

• When an antagonist or secondary character reappears, do not replay the earlier interaction. Make it more complex and reveal more about the protagonist's emotional development.
• Show the flaw early at low stakes, then widen its consequences scene by scene. For example: work life, then relationships, then health, then mental well-being.
• Each appearance should show the flaw in a new light to the reader, and eventually to the protagonist.
• A protagonist can stay oblivious through the beginning and middle, then fully "get it" at the crisis. The climb toward transformation follows.
• If a middle-of-story scene with a returning character feels like a copy of the earlier one, brainstorm how the flaw's growing effects can raise tension and conflict.

Nature as antagonist

• The protagonist cannot control nature, so she must resist or surrender.
• Give natural events deliberate meaning in each scene and in the whole story, not random occurrence. Make them symbolic of loss or inner emotion.
• In every scene, ground the reader with the place, season, day of the week, and time of day.
• Natural factors that challenge the protagonist add conflict and push the scene above the line.
• Dawn and dusk are "between times" that bring poignancy, melancholy, or imbalance. Sound cues like a mourning dove or a wolf's howl intensify the feeling.
• Combine nature with a social antagonist. Examples are a character alone over the year-end holidays, or violent weather mirroring inner turmoil.

Secondary characters as opposition

• Every secondary character, however minor, mirrors something the protagonist cannot see in herself. Each one has something to teach, awaken, challenge, or love.
• Give an important subplot or secondary character its own plot planner, drawn as a line above the main one, to show interdependence with the dramatic action and emotional development plots.
• Fill out a character emotional profile for each secondary character who needs development.
• Use one sticky-note color per secondary character at every scene where they appear. Then analyze how often they appear and where.
• Plot a separate storyline for each, built like the protagonist's emotional development line.
• Give each a goal that is thematically close to the primary plot and at odds with the protagonist's inner plot.
• Have the secondary character thwarted at every turn while also interfering with the protagonist's progress.
• A romance, friendship, or partnership challenge can add depth, for example between a mystery's protagonist and the detective. It does not change the genre.
• Meetings with no tension, conflict, or curiosity (such as repeated coffee chats to discuss the case) are a sign of an undeveloped relationship. Rework them with misunderstanding, frustration, and rising closeness.

Point of view with antagonist scenes

• Pick the dominant POV and stay consistent. Do not insert another character's thoughts or feelings beyond what the narrator interprets.
• Readers bond with one character at a time and resist leaving. Open each POV switch with a clear first line that shows who, what they are doing, how it affects them, and where.
• Include defining specific details in that opening, and the reader will know the character quickly.

Drafting cautions

• In the first drafts, do not let the analytical mind suggest changes. Keep writing within the planned parameters.
• If the story fills with extra subplots, flashbacks, time jumps, POV changes, or reordered events, the likely cause is anxiety. Return to the plot planner, the core of the story, and its theme.
• Commit fully at the halfway point, even when unsure of the ending.
• Write a theme statement on the planner (for example, "choices, not blood, determine destiny") and test the antagonists against it.