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A YA Action-Adventure Series by Ian Dawson
Below, you will find links for the 12 blog posts from Antagonist April:
Week #1
Antagonist April: Week #1 – What is an Antagonist? – Part One
Antagonist April: Week #1 – What is an Antagonist? – Part Two
Antagonist April: Week #1 – What is an Antagonist? – Part Three
Week #2
Antagonist April: Week #2 – Developing An Antagonist – Part One
Antagonist April: Week #2 – Developing An Antagonist – Part Two
Antagonist April: Week #2 – Developing An Antagonist – Part Three
Week #3
Antagonist April: Week #3 – Antagonist Case Study #2, Paul Dreyfus (Dante’s Peak)
Antagonist April: Week #3 – Antagonist Case Study #3, Colm Doherty (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Week #4
Antagonist April: Week #4 – Antagonist Writing Exercise: Do Your Own Case Study
Antagonist April: Week #4 – Antagonist Writing Exercises, Part One
Antagonist April: Week #4 – Antagonist Writing Exercises, Part Two
In several posts, I referenced a variety of sources when discussing antagonists. Below is a list of those books:
I hope you enjoyed this adventure into antagonists as much as I did. Happy Writing, and I’ll see you in June!
Thank you for joining me this past month as we did a deep dive into story antagonists, their functions, and how to make them more effective in your story.
I enjoyed researching, writing, editing, and posting these articles over the past month. Wednesday’s post will include direct links to all 12 articles and a list of all the books used in my research.
I will be taking the next month off to finish my current WIP and visit family. I will see you in June!
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next month!
It’s Antagonist April, and all this month, I’ll be doing a deep dive into those characters that give our heroes and main characters opposition to their goals. This week, I’ll provide three days of writing exercises to explore antagonists further.
Let’s continue!
Exercise #4 – Elevating Your Antagonist
Humanizing your antagonist is a great way to make them relatable and real to your audience. While we explored some of these items in the previous post’s exercises, here’s your opportunity to examine and find aspects of this important character that bring them out of the realm of cliché and sculpt them into a flesh-and-blood individual.
While you may not utilize everything you think of, these elements can be dropped in from time to time in your story to give the audience a little insight into who this person is when they’re not being oppositional.
Exercise #5 – Your Antagonist’s Opposition
While the protagonist of your story is the most important character, the antagonist must be a formidable foe there to try and stop them from reaching their goals. As you develop your main character, think about ways your antagonist can make their lives miserable throughout the story.
Too many times, new writers are afraid to make their main characters suffer, go through trials and tribulations, and have to work to get what they want. I used to have this mindset, but it changed when I realized something important about fictional characters: THEY AREN’T REAL! So go for it! Make them suffer. Make them fight back, dig in their heels, face horrible moments of doubt and pain, wanting to quit when things seem to be at their worst.
And who can dish out and inflict all those things on your main character? Your friend, the antagonist.
These two characters need each other. The story can lose its impact, conflict, and dramatic effect if no one is present, throwing opposition in their way.
Depending on the type of story, these oppositional forces can be literal or figurative. Still, they need to exist on some level for your hero to have something to fight against and through to get to the end.
And it’s your job to give them an antagonist that enhances the story and helps drive the action forward as events unfold and your hero battles through to the end.
Week #4 Wrap-Up
We’ve covered a lot over the past month, all culminating in this final week of exercises you can use to create a strong, effective, and interesting antagonist for your story.
As you take the time to create and craft the Opposition, never forget to have fun and enjoy the experience. If you have fun, your audience will as well.
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next week!
It’s Antagonist April, and all this month, I’ll be doing a deep dive into those characters that give our heroes and main characters opposition to their goals. This week, I’ll provide three days of writing exercises to explore antagonists further.
Let’s continue!
Exercise #1 – Your Antagonist’s Backstory
Write a short biography or autobiography that gives you an idea of who this person is and what caused them to be antagonistic to those they encounter. You can write it in paragraph form or bullet points, and it is for you to reference and have in mind as you write your story.
It’s important to have an idea of who this character is so they have a past, are dimensional, and feel real within the story’s context. You don’t want to create a one-dimensional by-the-number villain. You want them to have successes, failures, fears, likes, dislikes, etc., as they enter your story’s world.
Exercise #2 – What’s Their Motivation?
What could motivate your character to oppose what your hero has set out to accomplish? Remember, the antagonist doesn’t have to be a Bond-level villain. It could be a parent, a friend, or the main character’s boss. Their motivation to prevent the hero from achieving their goal could be selfless and positive in their eyes.
Having a strong motivation for your antagonist can help the reader or viewer connect, empathize, sympathize, and relate to your antagonist on some level. Even if they don’t 100% agree with their tactics to stop the protagonist, having the audience understand the adversary’s POV is important.
Exercise #3 – The Arc of Your Antagonist
Last week, we looked in detail at the arcs of three antagonists in different films. We explored how these characters entered the story and their final fate by the story’s end.
This exercise is much more intensive than the previous two since you will explore your antagonist’s role as the opposing force to your hero throughout your story.
If you are developing an outline for your manuscript or screenplay, take some time to jot down a basic arc for your villain. Or, if you are just in the early phases of creating a story, you can brainstorm these concepts as well:
As your story evolves, these aspects of your antagonist and their role will also evolve. It’s important, however, to have the basics down to reference when needed so you at least have a strong starting point once you dive into the drafting phase.
There’s more to come! Antagonist April continues on Friday. See you then!
It’s Antagonist April, and all this month, I’ll be doing a deep dive into those characters that give our heroes and main characters opposition to their goals. This week, I’ll provide three writing exercises to explore antagonists further.
Let’s get started!
Last week, we looked at the antagonists from three different films. Now, it’s your turn to write your own Case Study.
Pick a movie, any movie. It can be your favorite film or one at random. Watch it from beginning to end, just experiencing the film as a whole. Next, rewatch the film, focusing on the story’s antagonist closely.
ANTAGONIST’S NAME: Who are they?
RELATIONSHIP TO PROTAGONIST: How do they know the hero? Are they a love interest? A boss? A friend? A coworker? A universal threat?
THE ANTAGONIST’S ARC: Here’s where the work comes in. How are you introduced to the antagonist? Outline their interactions with the protagonist, lines of dialogue, and actions that indicate their opposition. Does their relationship with the hero change throughout the story? What is the antagonist’s goal? Motivation? Why do they oppose the protagonist? How does the antagonist’s story end?
THE ANTAGONIST’S FATE: Where does this oppositional character wind up by the end of the story? Have they been defeated? Arrested? Killed? Compromised with the hero? Found common ground or understanding? Fallen in love with the hero? Note that here.
COMMENTS: Any thoughts or revelations about the antagonist and their role in the story can be added here. This is a place to wrap up your analysis with anything you didn’t see directly in the film.
You can also use this to analyze antagonists in novels, short stories, and plays. I have included a .docx template below you can use.
Back on Wednesday with another Antagonist-themed writing exercise! See you then!
It’s Antagonist April, and all this month, I’ll be doing a deep dive into those characters that give our heroes and main characters opposition to their goals. This week, we’ll analyze the roles of three antagonists in three films. Our final entry is The Banshees of Inisherin.
Let’s continue!
[SPOILER ALERT: Since this is a new film, I will forewarn you that MAJOR plot elements will be discussed]
ANTAGONIST’S NAME: Colm Doherty
RELATIONSHIP TO PROTAGONIST: Colm is Pádraic’s best friend and drinking buddy.
THE ANTAGONIST’S ARC:
THE ANTAGONIST’S FATE: With all the fingers gone from one hand and his house burned, Colm and Pádraic eventually come to an impasse and appear to go their separate ways for now.
COMMENTS: Despite its period setting, the situation is one that people go through every day around the world today. Most of us have been in Pádraic’s shoes; other times, we’ve been in Colm’s when it comes to the ending of a friendship.
While Colm takes his desire to no longer be friends with Pádraic to the extreme, audiences can still empathize with him and his need for more out of life. Colm’s motivation for creativity and his interests, working on his music, and teaching others is reasonable and justifiable.
Pádraic should have given him space to pursue his endeavors, which might have resulted in a more peaceful resolution and Colm retaining all his fingers.
I think it’s also important to note that just because a character is an antagonist, it doesn’t make them a bad person. Just being in opposition to the main character and creating a conflict with them can cause a character to be seen as the antagonist in a story.
ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE: Could the case be made that Pádraic is the film’s antagonist? Yes. His inability to accept Colm’s life changes and leave him alone can appear oppositional at times. Still, he’s the one whose life is upended by Colm, and he’s the one who has to adapt and change to this new situation throughout the story. That makes him the protagonist, in my view.
What do you think?
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s Case Studies! I’ll be back next week with some Antagonist-related writing exercises as we close out Antagonist April. See you then!
It’s Antagonist April, and all this month, I’ll be doing a deep dive into those characters that give our heroes and main characters opposition to their goals. This week, we’ll analyze the roles of three antagonists in the films. Today, it’s Dante’s Peak.
Let’s continue!
ANTAGONIST’S NAME: Dr. Paul Dreyfus
RELATIONSHIP TO PROTAGONIST: Paul is Harry Dalton’s boss at the United States Geological Survey. He sends Harry on the assignment to check out the seismic activity around Dante’s Peak.
THE ANTAGONIST’S ARC:
THE ANTAGONIST’S FATE: Paul’s attempt to save the van as the bridge breaks apart cause his ability to escape to safety untenable, and he washes away downriver (listen closely, and you can hear the classic Wilhelm scream when he falls into the water).
COMMENTS: Paul’s role as a skeptic questioning Harry’s finding around Dante’s Peak makes him the antagonist. Unlike Harry, he has to work within the politics of the job, ensuring not to cause unneeded alarm to the citizens and bureaucrats of the community.
Ultimately, his skepticism is found to be incorrect, and the resulting eruption of the volcano leads to death, destruction, and Paul’s demise.
Come back Friday as we look at the antagonist for the film The Banshees of Inisherin! See you then!
It’s Antagonist April, and all this month, I’ll be doing a deep dive into those characters that give our heroes and main characters opposition to their goals. This week, we’ll analyze the roles of three antagonists in the films, starting with Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
Let’s get started!
ANTAGONIST’S NAME: Veronica Corningstone
RELATIONSHIP TO PROTAGONIST: Veronica is initially seen by Ron Burgundy as a potential love interest, but he quickly finds out that Veronica will be part of his news team, which is a no-no in Ron’s male-dominated new world.
THE ANTAGONIST’S ARC:
THE ANTAGONIST’S FATE: Veronica and Ron end up a couple once again, and she winds up co-anchoring the network news with him. Both achieve their goals.
COMMENTS: Veronica’s role as the antagonist in the story is clever. She’s not evil; she’s the opposition primarily because she’s a woman in a male-dominated field. This helps add to the conflict between her and Ron due to their office romance and her desire to anchor the network news.
Their fates ending up in the same place – as a couple and as co-anchors – shows the protagonist’s growth as a character and also shows that the antagonist has reached their goal as well. Both are happy at the story’s end.
Come back Wednesday as we look at the antagonist for the film Dante’s Peak! See you then!
It’s Antagonist April, and all this month, I’ll be doing a deep dive into those characters that give our heroes and main characters opposition to their goals. This week, we’ll discuss developing a compelling antagonist for your story.
Let’s continue!
Let’s Talk About the Opposition to the Opposition
After all, without this individual, the antagonist would have free reign to create chaos and do whatever they want. And while that’s fine in theory, the protagonist exists to give the antagonist some pushback against what they want to achieve. This, in turn, creates conflict, increasing the story’s stakes.
Both characters need to have something to lose if they fail. The back and forth between the two should lead to an escalation in the stakes, and this escalation helps to propel the story forward.
“For the actions of the main character to be experienced as heroic, you need a very powerful antagonist. The more powerful the antagonist, the greater the likelihood that the main character will be perceived as heroic” (Dancyger & Rush 60). Let’s talk about a familiar movie: Die Hard.
When John McClane enters Nakatomi Plaza, he’s an unarmed NYPD cop just there to visit his ex-wife during a Christmas party. Little does he know that Hans Gruber and his goons are on their way to disrupt and wreak havoc throughout the building.
McClane is outnumbered but slowly takes out the opposition, goon by goon. But Gruber has the upper hand all the way to the climax when he has McClane’s wife at gunpoint, and stakes are escalated to a fever pitch.
Die Hard shows us that it’s okay – in fact, important – that your antagonist be stronger and more resourceful than the hero. Suppose they begin their conflict at the same level, or the protagonist has the upper hand from the start. In that case, it can drain any potential conflict or drama from the story. So, knock that hero off his pedestal. Have him wrongly accused of murder (The Fugitive), have them captured by terrorists and seriously injured (Iron Man), or send them to law school where they’re ostracized and an outsider (Legally Blonde).
At the same time, make sure the antagonist has the upper hand. They have all the tools, resources, and people to cause problems for the main character. Make the hero work for their goal, and allow the antagonist to enjoy their time, making the hero suffer.
Have Fun
I’ve said this in past posts, but it’s worth repeating: you must have fun and enjoy the process. Writing can be challenging, but creating a compelling narrative with strong characters should be an enjoyable experience.
Creating and developing a worthy opponent for your hero can be a cathartic experience. Most antagonists play by their own rules and moral code, so you can have a great time making them as eccentric and evil as you wish. This is the time to get it out on the page and explore this character’s many dimensions.
What can you bring to your antagonist that will make your hero fight harder than they ever have? What can you create that will make readers perk up even more when the antagonist appears?
If you are having issues and problems with your antagonist, you may want to look at their relationship with the protagonist and figure out how to mold the opposition into a character that really gets under the hero’s skin. One thing to think about as you create this important character is that “[a]ttacking the hero’s weakness is the central purpose of the opponent” (Truby 95).
Play around, enjoy the process, and have fun creating this key character in your story!
Week #2 Wrap-Up
This week we explored ways to develop a strong antagonist for your story. We discussed crafting a backstory for the character to give them depth and events in their past that could influence their current actions. We discussed their motivations within your story and talked about why they oppose the protagonist.
Then we discussed crafting an arc for your antagonist and ways you can elevate this character from a one-dimensional villain to a person with substance and nuance.
And finally, we discussed how this character’s role is to make life hard for the hero.
Once again, I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts and insights on antagonists, and I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks.
Starting Monday, we’ll look at Case Studies focused on three movie antagonists. See you then!
Sources:
Dancyger, Ken & Jeff Rush. Alternative Scriptwriting. Focal Press, 2007.
Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story. Faber and Faber, 2007.
It’s Antagonist April, and all this month, I’ll be doing a deep dive into those characters that give our heroes and main characters opposition to their goals. This week, we’ll discuss developing a compelling antagonist for your story.
Let’s continue!
The Arc of the Antagonist
Once you’ve established where they came from and their motivations, you have to decide where the antagonist is in their life when they enter your story. Much like the protagonist, they are doing something else before they come across their current situation and are determined to reach a goal by the end of the story.
Both characters, of course, are out to prevent the other from achieving their primary goal. And, like the protagonist, the antagonist should be “as complex and as valuable as the hero” (Truby 89). So, while your main focus when writing your story should be on your hero and their actions, motivations, goals, and arc from start to finish, it’s also essential to give time to the antagonist and see what’s going on with them as the story unfolds.
After all, if they are human, they are experiencing emotions, feelings, setbacks, and victories, too. For readers to connect with the antagonist on some level, we have to be given insights into them as the story unfolds.
Look at Scar’s arc in The Lion King. His backstory – being second-born and having a nephew in line for the throne – motivates his desire to wipe out Mufasa (and Simba, too) so he can become king of Pride Rock. And his plan actually works! But he’s an ineffective leader. Once Simba returns from his self-imposed exile, Scar must face the consequences of his actions and is ultimately vanquished.
When it comes to “[a] novel, play, or any type of writing, really is a crisis from beginning to end growing to its necessary conclusion” (Egri 117). Giving readers a strong hero is important, but the opposition has to be equally as compelling and interesting to keep the story moving. You want to keep the audience in suspense, unsure how that hero will defeat their adversary or if evil will win in the end.
Think about other films or books where the antagonist has a strong story arc. These are usually the ones we remember best and have become a part of pop culture.
The Elevated Antagonist
What makes us like a villain? What makes them intriguing to us? What aspects of who they are can make us sad to see them go?
They aren’t just cookie-cutter, boilerplate bad guys. There’s something more to them. Something about them that connects with the audience. They make us laugh. They have a way of speaking or emoting that captivates us. We know they are the antagonist of the movie or book, and we know that we should be rooting against them. But when they’re around, we can’t look away.
The antagonist’s stance is “powerful and compelling, but ultimately wrong,” but that doesn’t mean they have to be a one-dimensional character (Truby 90). Finding ways to draw the audience into their world and humanizing them is a great way to give this character something more.
As you develop their backstory, jot down other activities they enjoy. Do they cook? Garden? Play board games? Do they enjoy dad jokes? Puns? One-liners? These are all things that can influence who they are and give readers a stronger sense of who they are as people.
The villain in your story “can only be humanized by making them vulnerable” (Vogler 74). Maybe they’re lonely and long for love, friendship, or happiness. Could you give us a relatable connection to them? It can still inform their actions and motivations even if it’s not mentioned outright.
Who are some antagonists that you have connected with and why?
There’s more to come! Antagonist April continues on Friday and all month long. See you then!
Sources:
Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing. Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story. Faber and Faber, 2007.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Michael Wiese Productions, 1998.