It has come to my attention that relatively few of my stories have actual antagonists established. This seems like a bad thing.
Now, some I just wouldn't want to state outright because it would spoil a lot of the story. But I can only think of one of those cases where I know the mysterious antagonistic force itself.
This is probably indeed a bad thing. Granted, I don't have all of my story ideas fully developed; that would take a ton of work for a lot of ideas that won't ever really insist on being written. But it seems like I leave out the antagonist disproportionately often. Even when I don't know the "Other Main Characters" well, I'll at least hack out a basic description. The bad guys? Not so much.
There are a few reasons why. One: I'm lazy sometimes. It's hard avoiding that when it comes to story ideas that just sort of showed up and didn't demand to be taken anywhere. Two, and hopefully the more major reason: there isn't always a distinct antagonist. Particularly in my favourite types of stories where all of the characters are at some point enemies, it's hard to specify exactly who should be labeled the antagonist. There are also times when it's more of a manner of survival—then who's the bad guy? Nature in general? Infectious bacteria? Large rocks?
Do I need more distinct driving forces all of the time? Is it more acceptable to wait for the evil masterminds to show themselves than the rest of the cast? How important is a real antagonist, anyway—as a symbol? As a finite force to be dealt with? Do you ever find yourself skimping on the real masterminds during the more up-front struggles of your stories?
I write villains probably because it's what I grew up on. Although I do tend to like fake-out villains. Whoops! They aren't quite evil after all! So tragic!
ReplyDeleteMim
Hey, nothing wrong with that. Have a little fun with them, eh?
DeleteHm. While I think that lots of stories benefit from great villains, lots more don't really have a clear one in mind, just a societal or natural force. Like TWLR worked perfectly fine without any one main antagonist, although Gilbert, Ludwig and Ivan sort of shared that role with the virus/curse. And I loved the Brutal Series and Ace Tribute, even though they didn't really have one specific villain, just a lot of aggressive tributes. I don't think you should completely avoid putting villains into these stories, though; just that you don't have to have one for every single one. And villains don't always have to be memorable if the plot or other characters is enough to make up for it.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of revelations of big bads, are we ever going to find out who/what was ultimately behind it all in The Rules? (Tbh, I know that I'm supposed to write the next chapters of that and DoA, but I think I might give up on it. I've got so many of my own stories to write, plus University, I just don't have the time anymore. Sorry :(
That's a good way to put it.
DeleteWell, it was an organisation, I'll tell you that much. And I've had two more people offer to write, so we'll just have to see if that falls through.
Oooh~ (Thank goodness it was an organisation; I was starting to worry it would be something the other nations did, and I don't know if I could handle that. XD)
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