November 2008
Getting Cozy with Karen.
November Musings
Bad Guys, Antagonists & Villains, Oh My!
Writers learn a lot about protagonists, the heroes and heroines that inhabit our stories. However, too often our antagonists and villains are either skimmed over or overlooked completely. I'm not certain why. I do know that exploring the antagonist POV is one of the reasons why many students take my plotting workshop.
"How do I handle multiple villains?" is one question that crops up at some point in almost every class. Another similar question is, "What's the difference between an antagonist and a villain?" It's become evident to me how uncomfortable some writers are about this topic so let's explore it a bit.
We begin with a definition of protagonist and antagonist because these two words trip up more than a few writers. The protagonist* is "the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work." The antagonist* is "a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another; opponent; adversary." A villain* is "a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel" or "a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot."
The words "antagonist" and "villain" are often used interchangeably. Personally, I separate them. Both operate in opposition to the protagonist and must ultimately fail to attain their goals. The villain, though, takes pursuit of his opposition to criminal, antisocial lengths.
In My Best Friend's Wedding, for example, Julia Roberts is an antagonist. She does try to break up her best friend's wedding however she doesn't go to villainous lengths to do it. Another interesting character study is Darth Vader in Star Wars IV, V & VI. As Darth Vader, there is no question he's a villain. But look at Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith and you can actually see his final descent from protagonist to antagonist to villain. He's an antagonist in opposition to the Jedi party line through much of the movie, struggling between good and evil. The moment he consciously steps over the line to the dark side and begins killing Jedi Anakin essentially dies, replaced by the evil villain Darth Vader.
Multiple antagonists also give writers grief. When given a situation with a number of antagonists working together writers worry they have to plot all of them. The truth is, in most cases, there is likely one main antagonist to plot.
Why identify this one antagonist? It's difficult to manage too many characters when one will do the job, but more than that it dilutes your reader's attention. They can't get thoroughly invested in one or the other. For instance in Die Hard, although there are a number of villainous characters working as a group their leader, Hans Gruber, would be the character to focus your plotting attention. In Romancing the Stone, your focus is on Colonel Zolo and not kidnappers, Ralph and Ira.
To get your readers thoroughly invested in an antagonist, they have to be sucked into that character's goal and pursuit of that goal. Especially in suspense novels, this villain will drive the hero and/or heroine's story from start to finish. So it's important to identify which character drives that action.
It is relatively easy to identify the antagonist if you've got a killer or criminal in your story. But there's no reason why you can't identify your antagonist even it s/he's not that obvious. S/he will be that one character that is focused, determined, willing to do anything to pursue a goal in opposition to the protagonist goal, and actively pursuing that goal through the entire story.
If you still have difficulties figuring out who this character might be, ask yourself one question. "If I pull Joe Bloke out of my story, can the story live without him?" If it can, you'll want to look a little deeper into who's actually driving your story action.
[* Dictionary.com]
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What else is happening in my writing world?
I finished a "W" plotting class with the good folks at NEORWA on October 31st, my last class of 2008. I always have a great time working with other creative people! I am taking a break now until 2009. If you have friends who would like the class, I do have the entire set of lectures available to purchase on my website. I'm beginning to work on next year's workshops, but there won't be anything available before March earliest.
You might have noticed you didn't receive a column from me in October. I do have a very good excuse and it dovetails with my reasons for not planning any more workshops in 2009 until at least March. I've been having health issues that have knocked my life around a bit. Thankfully, the nasty "c' word is now off the table but after the holidays I'm headed for surgery. In some ways, I can't wait to feel better. But I'll take the next few months to get some writing done and work on some new ideas I have for additional workshops.
I am thrilled to have scheduled two classes for 2009. On April 25th, I'm presenting "The 'W' Plot" as a full-day workshop for the Saguaro Romance Writers in Tucson. I'm online with the Southern Tier Authors of Romance [STAR] through the month of August. I'll be back online with NEORWA in May 2010. Over the next couple of months, I'll be updating my NEWS section with the rest of my 2009 workshop schedule.
In the meantime, I'd like to wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy your family time. It's precious. I hope you find some writing time around the mayhem, too. :-)
As always, if you'd like to comment on this newsletter or anything else, please feel free to sign into my guest book at the bottom of this HOME page. Looking forward to hearing from you! If you're on MySpace, you can find me at http://www.myspace.com/authorkarendocter. If you're on Shelfari, I'd love to be friends and share what we're reading. If you're not and would like to be, contact me at karendocter@yahoo.com. All I need is your email address to invite you. And, by all means, if you enjoy reading my newsletter each month, please tell your friends. They can sign up for their own copy easily at the bottom of this page.
See you in December if you'd like to Get Cozy with Karen again. In the meantime, feel free to check out the rest of my website at your leisure.
I wish you a month overflowing with creativity and confidence. May you realize all of your dreams!
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