Sunday, October 24, 2010

Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess who lived in a castle far, far away.  She loved Prince Wonderful from the Kingdom Down the Road.  On their wedding day, they kissed and lived happily ever after.  The End.


Blah!  The protagonist (princess) gets what she wants (marriage to Prince Wonderful). Okay, we're happy for her (yippee!), but we really could care less about the story because we don't know much about her, and her life is perfect.  She gets what she wants and she seems lucky and spoiled.  Yawn!  Whatever.


BUT...


Let's throw in antagonists!  These are the animate or inanimate objects that create stumbling blocks for the protagonist and make us wonder "Oh, No!  Poor princess!  Will she ever marry Prince Wonderful?!"  Antagonists can be people, creatures, ideas, fears, objects, weather, etc.  Antagonists are a necessary part of every good story.  And you can (and should) add more than one!


So, here's the same story with antagonists...


In a castle far, far away lives a lovely princess.  She loves Prince Wonderful from the Kingdom Down the Road.  Her evil step-father, King Hateful and Mean (antagonistic character), refuses to let her marry.  He wants the princess to remain a single woman so she will care for him in his old age (antagonistic demands).  To prevent her from leaving, he places a guard at her door each night so she will not leave (antagonistic characters).

Poor princess!  She is sad (antagonistic feeling) for she loves Prince Wonderful with all her heart!  She desires to marry Prince Wonderful but knows she will never be able to fulfill the desires of her heart.  Secretly, she climbs out of the castle window each night and rides her white steed to the forest near the Kingdom Down the Road (you go, girl!). There she and Prince Wonderful kiss and profess their love (awwww!!!!).  Every morning, she returns to her castle at sunrise, before her father awakens, and prepares his breakfast.  

King Hateful and Mean becomes suspicious of her happy singing each morning as she prepares his grande breakfast burrito with salsa (ole!).  One morning, the King orders his guards (antagonistic supporting characters) to follow the princess to the Kingdom Down the Road.  They report back to the King where the girl goes each night.  King Hateful and Mean yells hateful and mean things!  When she returns the next morning, he angrily orders the princess to be jailed in the cold, dark dungeon in the depths of the castle (antagonistic environment) where she weeps with despair.

Will the princess and prince kiss and live happily ever after?  That's up to you, the writer, and how many antagonists you want to throw at her.  

Ah, antagonists!  We love to hate them!  Without antagonists, your protagonist would quickly achieve his or her goals and the story would end before it ever really began.  And a story that has no antagonists is, well, not a story at all!


Happy antagonizing...  (-:


Mrs. P