By:
K.M. Weiland
Recently,
I stumbled across a discovery: there’s nothing like dynamic antagonists to
get readers hooked to a story.
Sure,
talking about evil characters can seem a little old-fashioned in today’s
literature, which loves flawed protagonists and antagonists with a heart. And there are certainly a few
good novels without a real villain. But if your story is falling flat, it may
be missing an antagonistic force, something that opposes the protagonist and
his goal, and which helps move the plot along in a dynamic way.
More
important, still, is this plain truth: writing about dynamic
antagonists is fun. Reading about them is even more fun.
How to Draw
Inspiration From Fairy Tale Antagonists
If
you need more proof of the compelling, memorable nature of villains, think of
the stories that have survived throughout time, passed orally from generation
to generation before being written down. Fairy tales are so memorable in part
because of their frightening villains. Snow White, Cinderella, Red
Riding Hood, and the myriad other tales made famous by the Grimm Brothers,
Perrault, and others, all feature villains with a simple, one-dimensional
reason for acting the way they do: often it’s jealousy or–in the case of Little
Red Riding Hood–hunger. In the end, though, these primal urges are not
really important. The villains’ evil nature is the main take-away .
You
can read more about story structure in fairy tales, as explained by Kurt
Vonnegut, here. While Vonnegut examined other aspects of fairy
tales as well, I find that their story structure can really be boiled down to
the following.
The
Fairy Tale Formula
- An innocent protagonist.
- Her all-consuming goal.
- A villain who thwarts her.
We
see the fairy tale recycled in a lot of modern-day story
structure.
How to Use
Antagonists in the Three-Act Structure
.
. .
Read the full
article HERE!
~*~
If
you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they
are again:
- 10
ways to promote your self-published book –
BookBaby http://ow.ly/NOv9K - Jim Thomsen discusses freelance editing, story craft, favorite authors, and his own authorial aspirations. http://ow.ly/NOwjz
- 3 Ways to Start Your Novel http://ow.ly/NOP3I
- Why Good Characters Have to Die in Fiction | The Whisper Project http://ow.ly/NOPev
- Craft Dynamic Antagonists Your Readers Will Love—in Just 3 Steps! - Helping Writers Become Authors http://ow.ly/NOPtg
- How Important is Your Book Title? - Books & Such Literary Management http://ow.ly/NOPXi
- Mia Hopkins: Writer's Workbook: Creating Ethnic Characters Who Don't Suck http://ow.ly/NOQ96
- Writer Unboxed » Know Your Nature, Nurture Your Focus (Multitasking Series, part 5) http://ow.ly/NORtW
- Each vs. Both http://ow.ly/NPn2k Daily Writing Tips
- Seriously Write: A Thing of the Past: Finding Inspiration from Objects by Susanne Dietze http://ow.ly/NPnj2
- Beta Readers: Facts, Grammar, Plot, Character and More — Fiction Notes http://ow.ly/NPobr
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