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How To Write a Novel — Antagonist
Day 5 of writing my novel in public
I’ve started something scary here on Medium. It’s something I’ve done before, but never in public. I have a process that I’m going to follow, and I’d like to share it with you.
If you want to follow the journey from the start, go here.
If you missed yesterday’s, you can find it here.
Day 5 — Antagonist
So far, I have used the two guidebooks I identified, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Gangsta Granny, to determine the genre, the mission, and the main character for the book I am writing. Today I’m going to focus on the character that opposes the main character in achieving their mission, the antagonist.
I’m going to start by looking at the antagonist in the two guidebooks, and then look at my antagonist. In searching for the antagonists, I’m going to look for the person who:
- invests as much in the mission’s success or failure as the main character,
- has the most to lose in the mission's outcome,
- wields power over the protagonist,
- is fun or compelling,
- and actively works against the main character.
I’ll set a timer for 5 minutes so that I am going with my gut, and not overthinking my response. There may be multiple possibilities, but I am looking for one candidate that fits the bill.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
There is one obvious candidate here, the White Witch. As the mission is to kill her, she works to prevent Edmund from succeeding and will lose her life if he does. She exerts her power over Edmund and is a compelling leader. Throughout the book, she tries to capture and kill the children.
Gangsta Granny
The antagonist in this story is less obvious to me.
Granny commits to stealing the crown jewels along with Ben, and will lose her freedom if the plan goes wrong. She is a fun character, but she doesn’t really wield power over Ben. In fact, he has to persuade her to take part.
