This week’s video explains how to use your antagonist’s scenes to maximum effect by keeping your protagonist front and center.
Video Transcription: The literary world is rife with fascinating antagonists, everyone from Hannibal Lector to Captain Hook. Occasionally, there even comes a story in which the antagonist is a more interesting personage than the protagonist himself. However, as a general rule, it’s accepted and even expected that the antagonist will simply not hold as much interest for the reader as the other characters. He’s there to provide some thrills and chills, throw obstacles into the hero’s path, and move the plot forward. As such, the author needs to be wary of forcing the reader to spend too much time in the villain’s POV.
A historical mystery nearly lost me completely when it dragged me through eight pages inside the antagonist’s head. Now, granted, my boredom wasn’t due entirely to the length of antagonist’s scene. Had the villain been a more inherently interesting personality and had he spent more of the scene moving the plot forward instead of just mulling on his evil plans, I would probably have been glued to the page. But all of these problems serve to highlight a common pitfall in antagonist narratives.
Whenever your story demands you spend several pages in the antagonist’s viewpoint, make sure you’re using the scene to its full benefit. Don’t allow your antagonist to lie statically on the page. Don’t give him a scene just to keep the reader in touch with him. Don’t allow his scene to be clichéd gloating on his part, in which he crows about his brilliant plan and the imminent downfall of the hero. Otherwise, readers’ impatience to return to the hero could have them skipping pages, or worse.
Related Posts: Why the Devil Makes a Boring Bad Guy
Antagonists Don’t Have to Be Evil
Top 7 Reasons Readers Stop Reading
Story by K.M. Weiland
Tags: antagonist , Characters , narrative
My favorite genre is mystery, where you never see the antagonist as a POV character the way you do in suspense. However, in my current WIP, I'm stepping into the head of my villain from time to time--mostly because it's clear enough who he is, so I'm not giving anything away. Good things to remember here as I deal with his scenes.
In the right stories, I love antagonist scenes, simply because antagonists have the opportunity to be some of the most fascinating characters. But if they're nothing more than cliched cardboard cutouts, forget it.
Antagonists can be really enjoyable, but my personal favorite character is usually the one that is either enticed to the "dark side" or begins as a villain, then shifts to the good side by the end. Always had a soft spot for them.
I love dichotomous characters. Those with more than a little gray in them are always those with the most interesting questions to ask and the deepest themes to explore.
Dean Koontz is one author that gets into POV of his antag, and does an amazing job.
I hadn't planned to poke around inside the heads of my antagonists in my WIP, but it sounds delightfully fun. :D I may try that in my next novel.
I've loved writing all my antagonist scenes, but particularly Mactalde, the villain in my upcoming fantasy Dreamers. I actually ended up really liking the man - despite his problems. ;)
Timely as ever! My crit group's had questions that are best answered by inserting antagonist scenes, but I'm stumbling over how best to structure them. Thanks for the tips!
Just remember that, if you flip your story on its head, your antagonist would be the hero. As a result, he needs to be just as convincing and three-dimensional a character as your protagonist.
Your blog is so helpful with writing tips.
Oh, man...see, my WIP is an alternating 1st person POV between the "hero" and the "villian." Chapter 1 is villian, two is hero, three is villian, etc...and my friend who's editing likes the villian better than the hero because the villian is complex and angry and the hero is physically weak and ...
I have so much work to do
One of my favorite story ideas was one where my antagonist actually took over and became the hero. Sometimes there's more "stuff" there to work with in antagonists, since they're more complex.
Awesome tips, K.M! You're right that an antagonist shouldn't always go on eight pages of evil, dastardly plans (lightning flashes in the background), but instead one should keep it simple and show glimpses of the antagonist.
A writer shouldn't delve too deep into a character's mind or the writer might lose a few readers. Readers don't want to know EVERY thought of the characters.
Thanks for the reminders and tips. Write on!
There's a balance in deep POVs that both allows readers to both know a character and still flow with the plot. In large part, that balance ends up depending on the type of story you're wanting to tell.
This is definitely something I need to work on. Thanks for the great video.
You're very welcome!
I'm so glad I found this site!! So much great information... I'm still digesting!! Thank you!
Thanks for stopping by!
Awesome information. Thanks for posting Katie :) Your site is always helpful.
Thanks for commenting, Tabitha! Glad it was helpful.
I just wanted to tell you that I LOVE your blog! You have such great, practical information and I enjoy your posts so much.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Melanie
~ melscoffeebreak.blogspot.com ~
That's the kind of comment that makes a girl's day, you know that? So glad you're finding the blog useful. A wonderful weekend to you too!
Not only do antagonists not have to be evil, they do not always have to be people.
Absolutely. Sometimes the best antagonists are forces of nature - or even just the protagonist's own inner turmoil.
Or an animal...like Cujo.
The easy thing about animal antagonists is that we rarely have to worry about them monologuing!
Sorry for going out of the context ,I really appreciate your contribution but as English is not my mothertongue this listening process is sometimes so tiring for me especially if I am at public place or somewhere so could you please add transcriptions just like you did under the video "why hypocrites make excellent bad guys?" I really appreciate it ,lots of thanks already
Here you go! I updated Why the Devil Makes a Boring Bad Guy as well.