WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.870 --> 00:00:11.400 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Welcome. Welcome back to Science Fiction writers. Week welcome! I'm Michelle with pro writing aid, so happy to see you back 2 00:00:11.460 --> 00:00:17.940 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: if you can see and hear me drop your location in the chat so we can see where in the world you are joining us from. 3 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:20.449 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: We always like to see 4 00:00:20.940 --> 00:00:23.949 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: our international folks here, and how 5 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:29.239 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: widespread our audience gets. So if you can see and hear me drop your location in the chat. 6 00:00:30.590 --> 00:00:33.050 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Hello again, Jim. 7 00:00:33.130 --> 00:00:45.970 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: from Philly, and from Wyoming I see Asheville, the Netherlands, Colombia, Montana, South Africa, Germany awesome. I see a lot of repeat names. Welcome back everyone. 8 00:00:46.200 --> 00:01:03.209 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: We will get started with our speaker in just a moment as usual. I have just a couple of quick housekeeping items for you, so your replay access. You will find your replays for Monday through Thursday sessions on the Science Fiction writers. Week Hub. The links 9 00:01:03.440 --> 00:01:09.649 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: are in the chat right now, and I'm going to drop them intermittently throughout the session as well. 10 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:24.950 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: So you'll find your replays there if you don't see one yet. It means it just hasn't finished processing, and it will be up soon, and these replays will also be posted to our community in the event reporting space by next Friday, so you can enjoy them there at your leisure as well. 11 00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:49.750 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Premium day is this Friday. So Monday, through Thursday sessions are available for everyone to attend. Friday is for our premium and premium pro users. Those users will receive an email on Friday morning with instructions to access the day's sessions and resources. If you do not receive your email, please let us know at hello@prowritingaid.com. And if you are interested in upgrading 12 00:01:49.750 --> 00:02:14.749 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: so that you can attend premium day, we do have a special offer for you 15% off your 1st year of pro writing a premium or premium pro. This offer is valid until September 27, th but if you would like to upgrade before Friday morning. You're welcome to do so, and then you can attend premium day with everyone. The code is on this slide, but it's also automatically entered in a link on our hub page. So if you would like 13 00:02:14.750 --> 00:02:20.800 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: to access the discount, you can go to the hub, click the link, and it will have everything in there for you. 14 00:02:21.150 --> 00:02:50.820 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: If you would like to keep talking sci-fi writing, we'd love to have you over in our private online writers. Community, this is with your prowriting aid account information. So it's free for anyone to join with a prowriting aid account. You can go ahead and enter your login information from your prowriting aid account. It lets you write in, and then you can see our discussions in the live event, chat, and also the event reporting space will have these replays as well as all of our previous writers. Weeks replays. So there's a lot of great content there for you 15 00:02:50.950 --> 00:03:05.739 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: reminders for our session today. If you have any questions for Savannah, please put them in the QA. Box, so we don't miss them. The chat can move quickly, and we don't want to miss anyone's questions. You can find that in the center of your zoom screen. 16 00:03:06.117 --> 00:03:30.819 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: We will also have links and offers from Savannah, as well as our other speakers from this week on the Hub. So you can see those within the schedule of events along with the replays. If you'd like to chat with other attendees today, please feel free to use the chat box for that, and you'll want to make sure that in the drop down, menu beside 2, you select everyone so that everyone can see your messages, otherwise by default they just come to us. 17 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:38.420 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: So with that being said, we are ready to begin. Savannah Gilbo is here with us again, and we're so happy to have her back. 18 00:03:38.420 --> 00:04:03.240 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Savannah is a certified developmental editor and book coach, who helps fiction. Authors write edit and publish stories that work. She's also the host of the top, rated fiction writing made easy podcast where she delivers weekly episodes full of simple, actionable, and step by step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away when she's not busy crafting her own stories. You can find Savannah curled up with a good book, a cozy blanket, and her 3 furry partners in crime. 19 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:06.279 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Welcome back, Savannah. We're so happy to have you. 20 00:04:06.420 --> 00:04:30.569 Savannah Gilbo: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me, and thank you all for showing up. Today. I see some familiar names in the attendees list, which is so exciting. I love it. These are my favorite events to speak at. I love the pro Riding Aid audience. And you guys are always so willing to participate. And it's just lovely. So I'll have to ask forgiveness upfront, because, like Michelle said, I normally have 3 21 00:04:30.570 --> 00:04:41.584 Savannah Gilbo: furry partners in crime. But today I have 4. We're babysitting a dog, and so there are 3 golden retrievers in my house. If you hear noise or weird yips and dreams. It's the puppies. Okay, it's not me. 22 00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:51.570 Savannah Gilbo: So what we're going to talk about today is, let me share my slides. We're going to talk about how to craft the perfect dynamic between your protagonist and your antagonist. 23 00:04:51.570 --> 00:05:19.999 Savannah Gilbo: And this is one of my favorite things to talk about, because I think, as writers. We spend a lot of time on our protagonist, but you know we might not give as equal thought to our antagonist, whether it's because it feels intimidating or you know, it's just something we kind of think we're gonna figure out as we go. So I like to actually think about these 2 things upfront. And I'm gonna explain to you kind of how I do that today. So we're gonna talk through how to craft the perfect dynamic between these 2 24 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:37.850 Savannah Gilbo: characters, so that you can write a story that engages readers until the very end. And that's our goal, right? We want to engage readers. We want to suck them into our story. And before that we want to have an easier time actually writing our stories. So that's what doing this kind of work upfront is going to help us do. 25 00:05:37.890 --> 00:05:55.659 Savannah Gilbo: Okay? So we're gonna look at 1st how to craft an antagonist. And I like to start here. Personally, you can start either way with your protagonist or antagonist. No, right or wrong answer. But I like to start here. Then we're going to talk about your protagonist. So we're gonna do a similar exercise for antagonist and protagonist. 26 00:05:55.660 --> 00:06:16.279 Savannah Gilbo: Then we'll look at 2 case studies. So one from the hunger games and the other from Enders game, and then we're going to do some live. QA. So if I go a smidge fast today, it's just because I want to make sure we have extra time for Q. And A. Okay. So like Michelle said, put your questions in the QA. Box, and I will get to them at the end. 27 00:06:16.280 --> 00:06:30.750 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. So if we've never met before, this is me. I'm Savannah. I'm a developmental editor and book coach. I have a podcast called fiction writing made easy. I am the author of the story, Grid Masterwork Analysis, Guide to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which is 28 00:06:31.020 --> 00:06:44.719 Savannah Gilbo: essentially like a Writer's Guide to how that 1st Harry Potter book was constructed on a scene by scene basis. So if you're interested in that, you can learn more on Amazon, and you can find me on Instagram at Savannah, Gilbo, if you would like to connect. 29 00:06:45.080 --> 00:06:50.759 Savannah Gilbo: All right. So we're going to go right into it. So we all know, stories are built on conflict. Right? That's not 30 00:06:50.900 --> 00:07:16.229 Savannah Gilbo: a secret, right? We all know stories are built on conflict, and the main conflict we want to pay attention to. Here is the conflict between our protagonist and our antagonist, because this is what's gonna drive your entire story forward. So without getting this dynamic right? This is what's gonna cause your story to fall flat. And it's what will give you a harder time when it comes to actually outlining and drafting your story. 31 00:07:16.430 --> 00:07:30.259 Savannah Gilbo: Okay? So the the conflict. If you get this pairing right between your protagonist and your antagonist, this is what's going to help you create an exciting plot that holds the readers attention and keeps them turning pages and keeps them up past their bedtime and things like that. 32 00:07:31.010 --> 00:07:41.709 Savannah Gilbo: It's also going to help you force your protagonist to grow and change in an organic way, and make, you know, make them become a better version or a new version of themselves. Not always better. Right? 33 00:07:41.820 --> 00:08:09.500 Savannah Gilbo: It's also gonna help you express a theme that will leave a lasting impression on readers for all time, which is another big goal of most writers. Right? We want to leave that lasting impression, have them talk about our books and really make an impact. So this dynamic is important for a lot of reasons. Right? A lot of foundational reasons helps us create an exciting plot helps us force our protagonist to grow and change, and that growth. And that change is what helps us express our theme. 34 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:22.240 Savannah Gilbo: So like, I said, we are going to dig into our antagonists first, st and if you guys want to play along and do this exercise with me. Feel free. Put it in the chat. Write your answers down. Whatever you want to do. 35 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:34.609 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so let's talk about how to develop a compelling antagonist, no matter what genre we're writing in. And again, this is something I see a lot of writers either skip or 36 00:08:34.895 --> 00:08:53.719 Savannah Gilbo: you know, not take their time to flesh out their antagonist. Just because, you know, sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's something we think we can do later. That's usually the reasoning. I hear it's like, well, I thought I would figure that out as I went right. But we need to do this work upfront if we want to create that harmonious dynamic. 37 00:08:53.840 --> 00:09:19.649 Savannah Gilbo: Okay? So what makes an antagonist? Just so we're all on the same page. Your stories antagonist. They're the obstacle between your protagonist and their goal. Okay? So their primary function is to create conflict for your protagonist as they pursue that goal right that will eventually force them to grow and change. So as people as characters, we change in the face of conflict. That's what our antagonist helps us do. 38 00:09:19.670 --> 00:09:38.760 Savannah Gilbo: and really important, they don't have to be bad or evil. So antagonist doesn't mean villain right? It's you know, just someone that's getting in the way. They don't always have to be human either. Right? So it just depends on the type of story you're telling. But just so we're on the same page. This is what I'm talking about when I talk about an antagonist. 39 00:09:38.980 --> 00:09:40.370 Savannah Gilbo: All right. So 40 00:09:40.480 --> 00:10:01.870 Savannah Gilbo: if you haven't identified your antagonist yet, you can ask some questions, one of them is like which character is going to create the main plot problem or the main conflict again. So think about it from your protagonist perspective. And then, which character, or what thing will your protagonist have to face in the climax that can help point to your antagonist? 41 00:10:02.177 --> 00:10:16.939 Savannah Gilbo: You can think about which character can help you best express your story's theme. So if your protagonist is, let's say, expressing the positive side of your theme, is there someone that can help you express that negative side of your theme. Usually that points to an antagonist. 42 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:32.630 Savannah Gilbo: and then, once you've identified who this person is, you can ask 5 questions to help flesh them out. Okay, so we're going to go through those now. But I can feel notetakers scribbling these things down, so I'll leave it up for one second. Grab a sip of water. 43 00:10:34.650 --> 00:10:35.570 Savannah Gilbo: All right. 44 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.420 Savannah Gilbo: So question number one, what is your antagonist want? Right? 45 00:10:40.790 --> 00:10:56.049 Savannah Gilbo: The antagonist is going to be defined by what they want, and that's because without a goal, there's not going to be a good reason for them to get in your protagonist way right? So if they, if they don't have a goal, then what are they doing? And how are they eventually going to get in the protagonist way? 46 00:10:56.180 --> 00:11:25.439 Savannah Gilbo: So you want to think about 2 things. One is, what does your antagonist want before the story starts on page one. Because in most cases, just like your protagonist, they? You know they have a life before page one. Right? So what are they already pursuing? And then what does your antagonist want? Once your protagonist comes into the picture. So you know, they might want one thing, and then their goal has to either completely change or completely shift. Once the protagonist comes into the picture. 47 00:11:25.730 --> 00:11:35.000 Savannah Gilbo: and we'll look at examples later of this. So either way, you look at this or for either goal, you need to get specific. So it's not enough to just say, 48 00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:44.029 Savannah Gilbo: my antagonist wants to rule the world like, yeah, okay, that's fine. But how are they going to do that? And what is that 49 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:58.889 Savannah Gilbo: specific goal for this story that we're going to be tracking. This is where a lot of series writers run into trouble, too, because they're like, well, my antagonist wants to take over the world. They want to rule the world, or they, wanna, you know, control trade in the world. 50 00:11:58.910 --> 00:12:05.350 Savannah Gilbo: Well, how are they going to do that right? So what does that look like? Specifically? How will readers know that they've done that? 51 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:28.180 Savannah Gilbo: Alright? So then it's very possible that however you flesh this out, your antagonist and your protagonist might start the story knowing nothing about each other. So remember they're kind of on their own individual tracks in life. They may or may not know about each other at the start of the story, but when they start getting in each other's way from the very beginning. You know. 52 00:12:28.390 --> 00:12:36.409 Savannah Gilbo: Maybe they won't understand kind of what this looks like, what this means until a little later into the story, but they're already from your perspective. 53 00:12:36.530 --> 00:12:51.010 Savannah Gilbo: It's like you can see them on a path to getting into each other's way right? So if they don't know each other. Can you see those kind of railroad tracks headed towards the same? You know a a point where they start interacting? If so, you're probably on the right track. 54 00:12:51.570 --> 00:13:16.569 Savannah Gilbo: and then, when the characters and the readers, they look back on things right, they should be able to see that that antagonist was in play from the very start. So again, since we're the creators of our own story, we have to have this kind of all knowing perspective of things right. So even if on page one antagonist and protagonist don't know of each other, we need to see how they're going to eventually come together and start experiencing that conflict. 55 00:13:16.880 --> 00:13:44.069 Savannah Gilbo: Okay? So that's question one question number 2 is, why does your antagonist want what they want? So this is another really important thing. Because if the motivations are weak, if they don't make sense, they, this can cause your story a lot of problems, and it can make your story read in a little bit of an unbelievable or unexciting way. So you want to think about like, what outcome is your antagonist trying to avoid right? Does that help you create a goal or a motivation. 56 00:13:44.090 --> 00:13:58.109 Savannah Gilbo: How are they justifying their beliefs and their actions, whether to themselves or to other people? Right? This can help you identify their motivations? And also, what kind of change do they want to see? So what are they trying to do in the world? And 57 00:13:58.280 --> 00:14:07.600 Savannah Gilbo: why are they trying to do this particular thing? What does that particular outcome mean to them? All these questions can help you identify that motivation 58 00:14:07.890 --> 00:14:36.770 Savannah Gilbo: alright. And then, in many cases your antagonist motivation, just like your protagonist, is going to come from their back story. So we want to spend some time digging into their past and figure out what makes this person tick? Why are they doing what they're doing right? To dig into that motivation? So again, if your antagonist motivations are weak, if they're unconvincing. If they're over complicated, then your story is going to probably feel that same way which we don't want. 59 00:14:37.045 --> 00:14:59.630 Savannah Gilbo: This is also what causes a lot of stories to break down in that in that messy middle section, right? Or to, you know, as a writer, you might be writing that middle or outlining that middle. And you're like, I don't know what else to do here. I've kind of used up my ideas. Well, it usually points back to weak goals and motivations from your antagonist. So if you're feeling that way, this is a good place to look 60 00:15:00.160 --> 00:15:21.370 Savannah Gilbo: alright. Question number 3, what's your antagonist plan for getting what they want. And this is really important. Because a lot of writers understand that their stories need conflict. But by the time they're getting around, they get around to figuring out what that conflict looks like. They're already really deep into crafting their protagonist. And they're thinking, what is the. 61 00:15:21.370 --> 00:15:50.740 Savannah Gilbo: you know, conflict look like from my protagonist point of view, and then it ends up feeling a little bit like manufactured or not organic. So if we start here, we can start building organic conflict right? So once you know what your character wants your antagonist, you want to think about, how are they gonna go about getting what they want? And then how will their actions start to interfere with your protagonist life and their plans again? This is what's gonna help you create very nice organic conflict. 62 00:15:50.750 --> 00:16:08.350 Savannah Gilbo: And that's because this way of thinking is going to help you create a situation where 2 people are pitted against each other. And this is going to help you create that organic conflict. Your plot's gonna evolve organically, and it's gonna just be a lot easier for you to write. Coming out of this situation. 63 00:16:09.210 --> 00:16:37.190 Savannah Gilbo: Okay? So why is this? Right? Well, this is how conflict works in real life. Right? There's a person who typically instigates the conflict. In stories that's usually the antagonist. They don't plan their interactions or their goals around another person. So in this example, it's your your protagonist, right? So the antagonist isn't really thinking about your protagonist like, how can I get in their way? Right? They're just doing things and their lives collide. 64 00:16:37.330 --> 00:17:03.460 Savannah Gilbo: So rep. You know what usually happens is the reactive person which is almost always our protagonist. They start to get bombarded with all these events that are a result of what the antagonist is doing. And these events feel really out of control, right? Because we're just. If we're the protagonist. We're just living our normal life. And then all these things start happening. So from there, these 2 characters, they struggle right? So the 65 00:17:03.460 --> 00:17:18.209 Savannah Gilbo: protagonist struggles against the antagonistic force to bring their life into some kind of balance, to restore things back to normal, and the antagonist is struggling to move forward despite the protagonist. So again, it helps us create really nice organic conflict. 66 00:17:18.329 --> 00:17:32.020 Savannah Gilbo: Okay? And if you normally are someone who plans your story or your conflict by deciding what your protagonist wants to do, or what you want them to do, and then deciding what your antagonist should do in response. 67 00:17:32.030 --> 00:17:50.990 Savannah Gilbo: That probably means you've been plotting your cause and effect from scene to scene and kind of the overarching cause and effect in the wrong order. So put a yes in the chat. If you're someone who starts with your protagonist, and then you're like, well, now, what is my antagonist going to do? No judgment? We've all been there, but I'm just curious how many of us do this? Right? 68 00:17:51.620 --> 00:17:55.160 Savannah Gilbo: So if you do this, this is what's going to end up 69 00:17:55.590 --> 00:18:16.789 Savannah Gilbo: aiding you in creating a less than solid plot. And that's not great. Right? So it's gonna make your job in plotting the novel, writing the novel so much harder. So that's why these questions. Digging into our antagonist is really, really important. And I see a lot of yeses in the chat. Oh, some of us start with the bad guys which is really cool. 70 00:18:17.220 --> 00:18:31.079 Savannah Gilbo: Alright? So question number 4, we want to dig into what's at stake for your antagonist. So we know what they want. Why, they want it, how they're going to go about getting it. And now what's at stake? So what happens if they succeed? What happens if they fail? 71 00:18:31.190 --> 00:18:51.723 Savannah Gilbo: Okay? And stakes are what motivate characters into action. So there's usually like an a motivation. That kind of starts the antagonist on their path. Right? That could be the same as the stakes in the story, or it could be like once they're on their path. There's stakes that develop or change right? So 72 00:18:52.330 --> 00:19:01.070 Savannah Gilbo: usually what's at stake for your protagonist will also be what's at stake for your antagonist. So, for example, if you're writing something like. 73 00:19:01.080 --> 00:19:22.079 Savannah Gilbo: you know a story where there's life and death Stakes, and only one can survive. Right? Then survival is at stake for both characters. So sometimes it's it's easier than we think, okay. So we wanna, you know, think about what is that content? Genre of our story, right in an action story with life or death stakes. Only one person can survive right? So that's what's at stake. 74 00:19:22.080 --> 00:19:41.039 Savannah Gilbo: If you're writing a mystery story set in a sci-fi world, the criminal is risking, being exposed and brought to justice. Right? So that's what they want to avoid in a romance set in space or in a sci-fi world. Right? The protagonist and the antagonist both stand to lose or gain love. 75 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:58.829 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so this is why it's really important to understand. Like, yes, we're writing sci-fi. But what makes up the story right like, what? What's the key through line? What's the central plot thread? Is it life and death stakes? Is it a mystery? Is it a romance? Is it something else? Right? We. And that helps us identify stakes. 76 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:07.970 Savannah Gilbo: Question number 5 is, what's the thematic significance significance of your antagonist? And this is a really important question. 77 00:20:08.330 --> 00:20:33.639 Savannah Gilbo: A lot of writers don't realize that their antagonist is a great way to express their stories theme, but they really really are so. Your antagonist. They are going to help you drive that external conflict in the story right? And that external conflict is usually a visual metaphor for your protagonist inner conflict. Okay? So we'll look at examples of this later. But that's really important to note 78 00:20:34.042 --> 00:20:43.307 Savannah Gilbo: and then, because of all this, your antagonist and the conflict they create usually is gonna directly tie to your theme. Okay, so 79 00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:55.490 Savannah Gilbo: theme is how your character's arc is expressed. And we're going to talk about this more in a few minutes with examples. But just keep that in mind. This is, they're a great vehicle for helping you 80 00:20:55.630 --> 00:21:14.059 Savannah Gilbo: put pressure on the antagonist. You know, express your theme in various different ways. Okay, so just to recap, we want to come up with specific answers to these 5 questions to develop our antagonist. And if you've already written a 1st draft, that's okay, too. You can still do this work. 81 00:21:14.060 --> 00:21:31.529 Savannah Gilbo: no matter where you're at. So again, what does your antagonist want? Why do they want this? What's their plan for getting it? What's at stake? If they succeed or fail? And then what is their antagonist? What is the antagonist thematic significance? Okay, I'll leave that up for a second, and then we're gonna dig into 82 00:21:31.840 --> 00:21:34.369 Savannah Gilbo: a similar exercise for your protagonist. 83 00:21:38.460 --> 00:21:42.229 Savannah Gilbo: Just pop in the chat while we have notetakers taking notes. 84 00:21:42.750 --> 00:22:11.399 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. So let's dig into how to develop a protagonist. And then we're going to think about at the end of this section. How do we look at these 2 characters together and start mining their dynamic for conflict? Okay. So a protagonist, if you haven't identified who this character is. Just so we're all on the same page. They're a person whose fate is most closely followed by the reader. We're usually in their point of view, right? And they are opposed by the antagonist. 85 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:31.751 Savannah Gilbo: So they're the person that's gonna make a lot of the key decisions. They're gonna experience the consequences of those decisions, whether they're good or bad, and they're they often will learn a lesson throughout the story. So if you haven't identified your protagonist yet, you can just think about these questions which character has the most at stake. Right? Usually that. 86 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:51.359 Savannah Gilbo: that's going to point to your protagonist which character has to deal with the main plot problem which character can help me best express my story's theme. Right? So these are all questions that will help you identify. Who is your protagonist? If you don't know already, or if you're stuck between, you know which point of views to include things like that. 87 00:22:51.680 --> 00:23:03.100 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so we're going to dig into a very, very similar exercise to your protagonist. We'll go through this just like we did, the antagonist, starting with question number one, which is, what does this person want? 88 00:23:03.190 --> 00:23:12.910 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so a character who wants something bad enough, they're going to pursue it. Which is what's going to help you create your stories plot. Okay? So we want them to have 89 00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:37.720 Savannah Gilbo: agency. We want them to have something driving them. So when your protagonist we meet them on page one. What do they want before the story has already started? Right? So what do they want right away on page one, and then what will become their goal after the inciting incident. Or that main that main conflict thread kicks off. Okay? So there's kind of 2 goals we want to think about here just like we did for our antagonist. 90 00:23:38.750 --> 00:23:58.969 Savannah Gilbo: And then, this is another thing you can look to your genre for. So yes, we're writing sci-fi. I'm assuming we're all writing sci-fi since we're here, and you can think about what's underneath this right? So if you're writing a story where there's life or death stakes. They are probably gonna want to survive and maybe even save others as they try to survive 91 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:06.800 Savannah Gilbo: in something like a mystery. Right? The detective is going to want to bring the criminal to justice in a romance the protagonist 92 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:27.279 Savannah Gilbo: usually is either trying to find love or avoid, you know, avoid falling in love, but underneath that they usually want to feel worthy of love and avoid rejection. So again, just think about like what kind of sci-fi we are writing, what's underneath that label of sci-fi, and usually that can in give us some insight into our protagonist goals 93 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:57.250 Savannah Gilbo: alright. And then, once you know their overarching goal, you can start coming up with smaller things that they're going to need to do to accomplish that main goal. So these often will become your protagonist scene goals like, for example, if they want to survive a threat from an alien species, right? What are some things they would need to do? So one of them might be like uncovering the alien species. Weakness, right? Does that include research? Does it include talking to somebody? Right? Just list a bunch of stuff 94 00:24:57.250 --> 00:25:02.789 Savannah Gilbo: that you know they're going to need to do doesn't have to be perfect. And this will help you populate your your singles. 95 00:25:03.170 --> 00:25:19.929 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so another example. If a protagonist wants to defeat the monster and survive, we kind of talked about this, but with aliens right their goal might be to learn about the monsters, or the aliens, or whatever their weakness, or you know where they come from, what they eat, whatever right? 96 00:25:20.090 --> 00:25:23.371 Savannah Gilbo: So we want to find out. What do they want? And 97 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:51.799 Savannah Gilbo: what are some things they would do on this path to achieving what they want? All right, then, just like with our antagonists. We want to figure out, why does your protagonist want this? So what's motivating them? To go through all of this effort to achieve or accomplish this specific goal. And again, character motivations are important because they help make our stories believable. They help readers relate to our characters. And you know, we all know what it's like to want something, no matter how big or small. Right? 98 00:25:52.210 --> 00:26:04.970 Savannah Gilbo: So this also is what's going to give your protagonist that sense of agency that is really, really important. So agency just means the ability to make decisions, to take actions, and, you know. 99 00:26:05.280 --> 00:26:21.429 Savannah Gilbo: to have as much control as one can have over their life right? And sometimes that's really hard, depending on what situation we put them in. But we want them to have that sense of agency so that they start taking actions. And, you know, face consequences of those actions. 100 00:26:22.080 --> 00:26:33.810 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. So motivation can usually be expressed in a sentence that starts with like my protagonist wants this specific goal because XYZ. So what is that? XYZ, 101 00:26:34.406 --> 00:27:00.500 Savannah Gilbo: and to find out their motivation, you can ask questions like these, so what? Why is your protagonist willing to endure the conflict? Right, or the hardship and the chaos to get what they want? What kind of change do they want to see in the world? And what are they willing to do to, you know? Make that change happen? And then you can also think about what kind of outcome are they worried about? So some of our protagonists will work really hard to avoid a certain outcome. Right? 102 00:27:00.570 --> 00:27:18.780 Savannah Gilbo: So you know, you can kind of journal about these if you're struggling to find their motivation. And then just know, you know, it's really important, because this is what's gonna help your story feel authentic and believable. And right? You know, character behavior in a way that your readers aren't going to question 103 00:27:19.140 --> 00:27:45.810 Savannah Gilbo: alright. Question number 3 is, what's your protagonist plan? So just like we did for our antagonist, we want to know, how are they going to start taking action to achieve that goal that they they want right? So what are they going to do? And ideally, your protagonist is the one that's going to be making decisions, inciting things, driving things forward as much as they can right? Because this is what's going to help you create your stories, plot 104 00:27:46.249 --> 00:28:10.600 Savannah Gilbo: and we want to keep an eye out for coincidental circumstances happening too much, because that's going to add up to something that doesn't feel believable. So just keep an eye on this, not saying coincidences can't happen, they totally can. But if every scene it feels like there's just something coincidental happening, that cause and effect you know, chain of events gets lost, and your story is going to feel random. 105 00:28:10.790 --> 00:28:38.609 Savannah Gilbo: Okay? So that's question 3, question 4 is, what's at stake? So again, what do they stand to lose if they succeed, or if they fail, and again, you can look to your content genre, for an example. So right, we talked about these with our antagonist. If it's a life or death story, their survival is probably on the line. If it's a mystery. Our protagonist wants to bring the antagonist to justice and restore justice. Right in a romance protagonist 106 00:28:38.700 --> 00:28:43.750 Savannah Gilbo: they, they maybe want to give love, receive, love, avoid love whatever 107 00:28:44.030 --> 00:28:52.209 Savannah Gilbo: all right. So similar questions. So far, right? This is where it gets different. I'm just gonna skip this part here. 108 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:54.749 Savannah Gilbo: This is where it gets different. So 109 00:28:55.370 --> 00:29:19.900 Savannah Gilbo: in question 5 for the antagonist. We asked, what conflict will your or, we asked, what's the thematic significance of your antagonist in question? 5. For your Anta? For your protagonist? We want to think about what kind of conflict are they going to face? Okay, so this is really important. Because, of course, if your protagonist could just walk out the door and achieve their goals. There would be no story. Right? So 110 00:29:20.440 --> 00:29:24.293 Savannah Gilbo: it's also what's I said this earlier? It's gonna help you create that. 111 00:29:24.670 --> 00:29:36.630 Savannah Gilbo: that impetus to change for your protagonist. Right? And this is a lot of the reason why readers read, we want to see what people will do in the face of conflict, how they're going to change, how they're going to adapt things like that. 112 00:29:36.870 --> 00:29:41.280 Savannah Gilbo: And there are 2 types of conflict we want to consider. So 113 00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:56.309 Savannah Gilbo: one of them is external. A lot of this is going to come from circumstances in the plot, your antagonist and things like that. And then there's internal conflict which is kind of the result of their backstory, and also how the external conflict makes them feel. 114 00:29:56.380 --> 00:30:06.909 Savannah Gilbo: Okay. So let's look at this right external conflict. This comes from outside your character. So it's the who or the what that's getting in the protagonist way as they pursue their goal. 115 00:30:06.950 --> 00:30:27.530 Savannah Gilbo: And this is usually your antagonist, right? So in something like, if you're writing a sci-fi, that is an action story or a horror story right underneath that bucket. There's an antagonist who's up to no good threatening the survival of everybody, taking agency away from people right? So this is what's the main vehicle for conflict 116 00:30:27.990 --> 00:30:37.840 Savannah Gilbo: in a thriller or a crime story. The external conflict comes from the antagonist who is a criminal or a killer right? Just the nature of thrillers and crimes. 117 00:30:38.340 --> 00:31:02.530 Savannah Gilbo: A romance would have an antagonist. That is the eventual love interest. So again, majority of the external conflict is coming from your antagonist, but it can also come from the world. The world building things like maybe the world's not set up for your protagonist to succeed. Maybe there's societal or cultural issues that also make it hard for your character to succeed. Things like that. 118 00:31:02.900 --> 00:31:26.929 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so that's external conflict. It's just think of it as outside your character. Right internal conflict comes from inside them. So it's whatever they bring to the story, both emotionally and intellectually. So. You know. Think about it as what's that internal obstacle that your protagonist needs to overcome or shed or stop believing in in order to succeed? 119 00:31:27.230 --> 00:31:51.489 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so we want to look to a character's backstory to find where this inner conflict comes from. And you can think about questions like these. So what is their greatest fear? Why do they fear that like, why are they worried about this thing happening to them? Right? What things do they think will bring them happiness? So if they're able to avoid their fears. What would they like to do instead? What will bring them happiness? 120 00:31:51.490 --> 00:32:04.710 Savannah Gilbo: And then what world view, or what belief, or misbelief, or you know, lens, that they're looking at the world through. What do they need to let go of in order to move on, to succeed, to be happy? Things like that. 121 00:32:05.110 --> 00:32:11.240 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so we want to dig into their backstory to find that source of internal conflict 122 00:32:11.300 --> 00:32:23.399 Savannah Gilbo: and the inner conflict. Your protagonist faces is directly tied to your story's theme. So it's really important. Okay, if you only flesh out your protagonist and you kind of skip 123 00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:27.160 Savannah Gilbo: your antagonist right? Then it's 124 00:32:27.300 --> 00:32:55.640 Savannah Gilbo: what's gonna happen is you're gonna have external conflict. That is just kind of happening because you're brainstorming external conflict. And it's not totally tied to your theme. It's not forcing your character to grow and change in a way that expresses your theme. So it just you know, gets a little wonky. We'll say that. And the result is a disjointed story that doesn't really make a point. It's not giving that emotional impact at the end. It's not giving us that. Take away to think about 125 00:32:55.640 --> 00:32:58.979 Savannah Gilbo: late at night. Right? So we really want to. 126 00:32:59.350 --> 00:33:16.829 Savannah Gilbo: be thinking about our the connection between our protagonist and our antagonist after we do the work to flush them both out, and you know the heart of your theme the way that you're going to express it. This is a question I get asked a lot is, I think I know my theme, but I don't really know what to do with it. Right? So 127 00:33:17.080 --> 00:33:43.639 Savannah Gilbo: this is one of the things you do with it. It's it's between the comparisons and the contrast of your protagonist and your antagonist is going to help you highlight and show that theme okay? And the more similarities there are between your protagonist and your antagonist in terms of goals. They could be on opposing sides of the same goal. They could be learning opposing lessons or showing the reader opposing lessons. Things like that. 128 00:33:43.760 --> 00:33:47.880 Savannah Gilbo: the more opportunities you'll have to explore and develop your theme. 129 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:58.807 Savannah Gilbo: the more they the characters, will present and prove your story's theme to readers, and the more cohesive your overall story will be. Okay. So we're gonna look at examples. But just 130 00:33:59.230 --> 00:34:09.529 Savannah Gilbo: There's a reason why we look at kind of those last 2 questions for your protagonist and your antagonist a little bit differently. And together they're going to help us create a really nice dynamic. 131 00:34:09.659 --> 00:34:26.919 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so recap for your protagonist. These are the questions we went over. What does your protagonist want? Why do they want this? What's your protagonist plan for getting it? What's at stake? If they succeed or fail? And then what external and internal conflict will get in their way as they pursue their goal. 132 00:34:29.429 --> 00:34:35.049 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, let me know how we're feeling in the chat. I know I went through that fast. But it's gonna come to life in these examples. 133 00:34:35.570 --> 00:34:37.760 Savannah Gilbo: All right, let me know how you guys are feeling. 134 00:34:38.310 --> 00:34:55.059 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. Yeah, fast, but good. I'm you'll have a replay. So don't worry. We're going to go through examples, too. So let's look at the hunger games right? So if we were to just look at Miss Katniss right in the very beginning of the story. She wants to keep her family fed and safe, very relatable. Right 135 00:34:55.060 --> 00:35:09.159 Savannah Gilbo: then she volunteers to take Prim's place in the hunger games and her goal shifts to becoming about survival. She wants to survive the hunger games so that she can get back to keeping her family fed and safe. Right? 136 00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:23.889 Savannah Gilbo: So now let's look at we're gonna compare her to President Snow. So what does President Snow want at the beginning of the story right? He wants to remain or maintain control over pan am. That's his goal as the ruler right 137 00:35:23.950 --> 00:35:28.740 Savannah Gilbo: after he sees the effect that Katniss has as she's coming to the capital, and she's. 138 00:35:29.150 --> 00:35:49.170 Savannah Gilbo: you know, getting ready for the games and things like that. He realizes that she and her catness and her actions that they inspire hope. So. He does not want her to survive the games because he's worried that the effect she has will not allow him to maintain this control over Pan am, right? So they have nice opposing goals. 139 00:35:49.940 --> 00:36:01.380 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. So yeah, nice little opposing goals. And you can imagine the organic conflict that's gonna come out of just this one question, right? Like they both want the same thing. 140 00:36:01.480 --> 00:36:07.620 Savannah Gilbo: They both want different things. But in the same realm right? She wants to survive. He does not want her to survive. Survive. 141 00:36:07.990 --> 00:36:31.519 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so let's move on to question 2. Why does Katniss want this? Well, Katniss is motivated by survival right? She wants to protect her mom and her sister, but also she doesn't like how the capital controls the districts through violence and fear. So she's not a person who's naturally going to back down from a threat because she's so focused on her family's survival right? Makes sense. 142 00:36:31.850 --> 00:36:54.729 Savannah Gilbo: Now, President Snow. Why does he want what he wants? After Katniss comes into his world well, again, she represents hope and possible rebellion, and if she wins the hunger games. The people could rise up against him, and if they do, they're going to ruin all the stuff he's worked for, and he's thinking, you know, I need to prevent this. So I need to make sure Katniss doesn't survive. 143 00:36:55.060 --> 00:37:01.750 Savannah Gilbo: Okay. So again, you could start to imagine really nice conflict coming out of this just based on their goal and motivation. 144 00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:26.970 Savannah Gilbo: So what's Katniss's plan for getting what she wants? Well, she's going to train before entering the arena, and then, once inside, she's going to follow her mentors advice. So she's gonna go straight for the bow she's gonna hide until that like initial killing sprees over. And then later, as she gets into the story, more, she develops a plan with rue. Another tribute to destroy the career tributes supplies. 145 00:37:26.980 --> 00:37:50.720 Savannah Gilbo: So her plans are kind of unfolding right? But her initial goal is to do what her mentor said. And take these specific actions. Okay, so what's President Snow's plan? Well, he's gonna use the game makers who are in his employ to destroy Katniss inside the arena. The longer she survives and the more creative and ruthless he has to be to defeat her. You know 146 00:37:50.720 --> 00:38:10.129 Savannah Gilbo: it just it. It makes him work harder to achieve his goal, which is really interesting. Right? He has to. He sends attacks that are directed specifically at her. He changes the gate or the rule of the games right? So he's he's constantly like on unsure footing as he's trying to accomplish his goal, which is really fun. 147 00:38:10.970 --> 00:38:31.040 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. So what's at stake for Katniss? This one's easy right if she doesn't find a way to win the hunger game. She's going to die. If she dies, her family back in District 12 will be worse off than they already are. So I like this because it shows how her current story goal relates to her page one story goal. If she doesn't survive, she can't provide for her family right. 148 00:38:31.620 --> 00:38:59.239 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. Now, President Snow, what's at stake for him? Well, if he doesn't kill Katniss, she's going to become an inspiration to the people, and a rebellion is likely, which means he will probably lose control of Penm, and he will probably be killed. So again, there's possibility of death with each worst or each character's worst case. Scenario offers the possibility of death so very on track for an you know a dystopian story that has life or death Stakes. 149 00:38:59.650 --> 00:39:10.989 Savannah Gilbo: All right. So what conflict does Katniss face? Well, externally there are 23 other tributes trying to kill her right? No big deal, and the arena is literally designed to kill her and the other tributes. 150 00:39:11.050 --> 00:39:23.590 Savannah Gilbo: Internally, she doesn't want to kill people or become a symbol for for change. She just wants to survive and go home. So she's struggling with this internal conflict as she's dealing with the external conflict. 151 00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:28.010 Savannah Gilbo: All right. Now, this is again where the questions differ. Right? So we want to look at. 152 00:39:28.370 --> 00:39:40.409 Savannah Gilbo: That's the conflict she faces. What's President Snow's thematic significance. So President Snow, he's the face behind all of the oppression, and he controls people through violence and fear, right 153 00:39:40.460 --> 00:39:44.060 Savannah Gilbo: his actions, so his goal and the actions he takes 154 00:39:44.110 --> 00:39:57.160 Savannah Gilbo: push Katniss to become a symbol for change and rebellion. By the end of the story. So notice how internally Katniss she's like, I just want to survive and go home right well. His actions put pressure on this 155 00:39:57.250 --> 00:40:08.710 Savannah Gilbo: and make her become somebody that she doesn't really want to be you know, at least in the beginning of the story. So I there's a really nice dynamic between their 156 00:40:08.930 --> 00:40:27.009 Savannah Gilbo: conflict. Maps will say that. So the external conflict, right? Snow causes a lot of it, and the internal conflict. Snow causes a lot of it. So he's thematically significant because we can. You know, link to that right? Is this cool to see? Let me know in the chat how you guys are feeling about this. 157 00:40:27.320 --> 00:40:31.189 Savannah Gilbo: we're going to look at another example from Ender's game in a second. 158 00:40:31.925 --> 00:40:35.350 Savannah Gilbo: Take a sip of water while I'm waiting for your guys's answers. 159 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:39.079 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, cool. It's making sense. All right. 160 00:40:39.460 --> 00:40:42.019 Savannah Gilbo: All right. So let's take take a look at Ender's game. 161 00:40:42.690 --> 00:40:53.550 Savannah Gilbo: What does ender want? Right? So in the beginning. He wants to be normal. Pretty much just like everybody else, right? Except his violent brother Peter. So he very specifically doesn't want to be like Peter. 162 00:40:53.710 --> 00:41:03.479 Savannah Gilbo: and then, after getting the opportunity to train at the battle school, he wants to train hard and defeat the buggers right? So he has a very specific goal once he gets to the Battle school 163 00:41:04.180 --> 00:41:31.089 Savannah Gilbo: alright. So, Colonel Graph, we're gonna use him as the antagonist. Which you might think is interesting. But we'll we'll talk about this later. So at the beginning graph, he wants to find the child who's capable of leading the international fleet, that's his goal on page one he meets Ender, and then once he meets him, he's like I want to train Ender, you know. I want him to train hard so that he can be the one to help us defeat the buggers. Right? So goals are very similar. Right? 164 00:41:31.488 --> 00:41:34.439 Savannah Gilbo: We'll see that they have different motivations here. 165 00:41:34.750 --> 00:41:54.910 Savannah Gilbo: So why does ender want this? Well, Ender wants to live up to his purpose. He was born a 3rd in a world that has a 2 child maximum, and he was signed away to the military at a young age, so he wants to survive. Prove his worth right. He wants to survive the threat of the buggers and stop them from killing the human race. 166 00:41:55.270 --> 00:42:08.519 Savannah Gilbo: All right. Why does graph want what he wants? Well, he believes that destroying the buggers once and for all, will result in humanity's survival. So they want the same things right, even though for those of us who've read it. We know there's 167 00:42:08.890 --> 00:42:20.020 Savannah Gilbo: different truths behind these answers, but graph believes destroying the buggers will result in humanity's survival. Ender wants to kill the buggers to stop them from killing the human race 168 00:42:20.200 --> 00:42:29.349 Savannah Gilbo: alright. So what's Ender's plan? Well, he's going to train hard. He's going to climb the well-defined ranks at battle school, and he's going to prepare for the war with the buggers. 169 00:42:29.530 --> 00:42:44.530 Savannah Gilbo: What's Graf's plan? Well, he's he's going to isolate ender from the rest of the students, and he's going to do this because he believes ender must be tested, and that he must learn to rely on himself if he's to become the commander, they need him to be so. 170 00:42:44.750 --> 00:43:06.809 Savannah Gilbo: You know, this is where we start to see a lot of conflict right like Ender wants to trade hard. He wants to do the things expected of him, and then graphs kind of got this plan that isn't very he's not very forthcoming with, which is interesting. So what's at stake for ender well, if he doesn't do well in battle school, he could be iced and sent back to Earth, where he will live the sad life of a 3.rd 171 00:43:06.850 --> 00:43:14.439 Savannah Gilbo: Also he believes that the buggers will come back and destroy the human race. So he, you know he, he believes there are very big stakes here. 172 00:43:14.530 --> 00:43:27.759 Savannah Gilbo: What's at stake for Graf. Well, if he doesn't become the one to lead the international fleet against the buggers, Graf believes that they will attack. This will result in loss of life for Graf, and possibly all humans. 173 00:43:27.960 --> 00:43:30.739 Savannah Gilbo: Okay. So again, similar stakes. Right? 174 00:43:31.100 --> 00:43:38.649 Savannah Gilbo: So let's talk about the conflict he faces ender. His external conflict is primarily created by graph. 175 00:43:38.700 --> 00:43:52.400 Savannah Gilbo: but also the older kids bully him because he's so young. There. There are like games that, you know. They have to succeed in games before they climb the ranks, those become harder and harder to deal with as well. So all of this is external conflict 176 00:43:52.470 --> 00:44:07.569 Savannah Gilbo: internally enders dealing with this question of, is it right to destroy the buggers, especially as he learns more about them and what they're up to? So he's got this internal question. He's also a 3.rd So you know, he wants to prove himself and things like that. 177 00:44:07.870 --> 00:44:30.129 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. So what's graph's thematic significance? Well, his thinking is very black or white. So it's either humans or the buggers in his world, and he's going to use violence to preserve humanity, no matter what the cost. So he pushes ender to become kind of a super soldier, but his actions also cause ender to question whether they're doing the right thing or not. So again. 178 00:44:30.300 --> 00:44:58.389 Savannah Gilbo: we can see this nice link between what graph is doing and the external conflict that ender faces. We can also see a nice link between the thematic significance of graph and the internal conflict that ender faces. So again, this leads to really nice organic conflict. Especially, you know, in this story there's a lot that Ender doesn't know just because, you know, he's a kid in this world, and and graph's an adult who's in a position of power and things like that. 179 00:44:58.410 --> 00:45:06.469 Savannah Gilbo: So again, very nice organic conflict. Very nice. A nice dynamic between these characters. And I just love this example. 180 00:45:06.980 --> 00:45:08.520 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. So 181 00:45:08.960 --> 00:45:18.320 Savannah Gilbo: do you guys see the differences, how the differences and similarities between the protagonist and the antagonist can help us create really nice organic conflict. 182 00:45:18.340 --> 00:45:41.940 Savannah Gilbo: Hopefully, yes, cause that was one of the main takeaways from today. Do you also see how fleshing out your antagonist and your protagonist reaction to them can help you generate ideas for your plot. This is something I get asked about a ton like, what do we do when we run out of our initial ideas? How do we dig deeper. Well, you know, fleshing out these characters and digging into their dynamic will help you generate a ton of ideas. 183 00:45:42.340 --> 00:45:54.769 Savannah Gilbo: and then, also, hopefully, you see how the antagonist actions can kind of put pressure on, or push your protagonist to face their internal wounds or their internal obstacles and grow and change. 184 00:45:54.830 --> 00:46:02.350 Savannah Gilbo: So a lot a lot of really cool things that can come out of doing this work between your protagonist and your antagonist. 185 00:46:02.740 --> 00:46:20.802 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so hopefully, now, you feel like you have a better handle on how to craft that dynamic between these 2 characters, so that the story you write will engage readers until the very end. Hopefully, you feel that way. And I've done my job today. And if you want a little cheat sheet I put together one for you guys. So this is 186 00:46:21.120 --> 00:46:32.309 Savannah Gilbo: kind of a guide to creating compelling characters. It goes along with everything we talked about today. So you can get that@savannahgilbo.com forward. Slash! Pwa! 187 00:46:32.893 --> 00:46:55.710 Savannah Gilbo: Let me see if I'll put that. Oh, Michelle's got it! She put it in the chat for us so you can grab that it. It's kind of just a recap again of what we talked about today. And yeah, I think there's an example in there. I can't remember which one I use. But go ahead and download that, and then we will go into some QA. So I'll leave that up for a second, and I'm going to look through our QA. Box here. 188 00:46:56.675 --> 00:47:03.460 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, I see someone. Anat is saying such a helpful series of questions and examples. I'm so glad that you felt that way. 189 00:47:03.940 --> 00:47:12.860 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. So let's see. There's a lot of questions. So I'm gonna start with, like some of the generic ones first, st that will help the most people. 190 00:47:13.411 --> 00:47:18.109 Savannah Gilbo: So Anonymous says, what's the difference between a villain and an antagonist? 191 00:47:18.300 --> 00:47:40.939 Savannah Gilbo: Can you have more than one antagonist. Is the villain, the antagonist. So typically an antagonist could be anyone. It could be you know. In theory it could be like a child. It could be an animal. It could be another human who doesn't have evil or bad intentions. Right? It's just someone that is getting in your way. If you're the protagonist and they're causing you conflict. 192 00:47:40.940 --> 00:47:53.141 Savannah Gilbo: So they don't have to be bad or evil. Typically a villain is bad, they're evil. They have bad intentions, right? Or they're, you know, just someone who's it's it's very clear that they're not 193 00:47:53.870 --> 00:48:04.019 Savannah Gilbo: you know. It's it's just they lean more that way. I guess I'll say that a villain leans more towards bad or evil, and antagonist is someone that might not be evil or bad at all. Hopefully that helps. 194 00:48:04.309 --> 00:48:26.630 Savannah Gilbo: Can you have more than one antagonist? So you can. However, there should still be one overarching antagonist, because if you, I've seen writers do this where they'll write a story, and they're like I have 3 equal antagonists. And then it's like, Well, what is the central thread of your story? Right? So who is the who is the reader reading to find out like is the character gonna defeat this person or not? Right? 195 00:48:26.945 --> 00:48:47.470 Savannah Gilbo: And it starts to get really confusing. And a good example of multiple antagonists is, I think, the 1st Harry Potter book we have Voldemort slash quarrel right? Because he's on quarrel's head, and we have Snape, who's kind of the adult antagonist. And then we have Draco, who's the child antagonist? So they're all antagonists, and I bet you. If we did that. 196 00:48:47.470 --> 00:49:03.529 Savannah Gilbo: thematic significance kind of map back to Harry, we would see they all serve the same purpose. It's just in in different ways, because one's a kid, one's a professor, and one is a evil super dark lord living on the back of some guy's head. Right? 197 00:49:04.730 --> 00:49:07.260 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. Let's see? 198 00:49:09.160 --> 00:49:17.240 Savannah Gilbo: So okay, what happens? So Barry says, what happens when your antagonist and protagonist are similar. 199 00:49:17.360 --> 00:49:41.590 Savannah Gilbo: And you said example, Marie Lou's legend. So I haven't read that story. But, I don't think it's a bad thing if your protagonist and antagonist are similar, I think that can create a lot of organic conflict. Usually in that scenario the motivations are different, or maybe, even if the motivations are the same, it's kind of like whatever is triggering them to have that goal, and that motivation 200 00:49:41.600 --> 00:49:43.736 Savannah Gilbo: might be different. So 201 00:49:44.650 --> 00:49:56.180 Savannah Gilbo: you know, I'm just trying to think like I'm totally making this up. But a protagonist who loves their family and wants to protect their family wants, to survive to protect their family. The antagonist. 202 00:49:56.410 --> 00:49:59.367 Savannah Gilbo: maybe, had a horrible upbringing, and 203 00:50:00.390 --> 00:50:02.729 Savannah Gilbo: you know, wants to wants to 204 00:50:02.790 --> 00:50:14.589 Savannah Gilbo: change, change, how life works. So they're going to protect their immediate family and no one else. Right? So it's like they have similar motivations, similar goals. But the impetus for those things are different that can work. 205 00:50:15.020 --> 00:50:19.723 Savannah Gilbo: But I I don't think it's bad if they're similar. I think that's okay, as long as 206 00:50:20.020 --> 00:50:23.520 Savannah Gilbo: it's clear the conflict between them is clear. I'll say that. 207 00:50:24.340 --> 00:50:37.199 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. Let's see, Andre says how to implement the 5 questions. If the antagonist is a force of nature. So this is a good question, and I like to think about a force of nature like a tornado or something right. It's 208 00:50:37.310 --> 00:50:43.859 Savannah Gilbo: it's an element, in my opinion, of the setting right? So think about a character who can embody the 209 00:50:43.950 --> 00:50:45.829 Savannah Gilbo: elements or the 210 00:50:46.310 --> 00:51:06.484 Savannah Gilbo: you know how, who, how could someone embody the characteristics of a tornado, or that whatever your force of nature is, cause you do want to have on the ground conflict? Right? I'm thinking of. The movie twister. We watch that a lot in my house, and yes, like, there's twisters right. But there's also a competing team who wants to send their 211 00:51:07.260 --> 00:51:11.966 Savannah Gilbo: what what is it called? There? It's not a machine. But you guys know what I mean. They want to send their 212 00:51:12.500 --> 00:51:24.740 Savannah Gilbo: Gosh, that's gonna bother me. It's Dorothy, right? They want to send their version of Dorothy up into the storm to get reads on the storm contraption. Yeah, thank you, Leah. I don't know why I can't think of the word I want. But yeah, so you want to think about like 213 00:51:24.920 --> 00:51:40.059 Savannah Gilbo: in that example, how does the other team embody the elements of the storm? Right are they? Do they throw chaos into your protagonist path? Are they kind of showing up out of nowhere are they like volatile like. Think about it like that, because you do want to have 214 00:51:40.400 --> 00:51:52.619 Savannah Gilbo: in in twister, right? You don't have a tornado in every single scene. So how are you going to pull that thread of conflict through when tornadoes or forces of nature aren't present? Hopefully that answers your question. 215 00:51:54.075 --> 00:51:55.890 Savannah Gilbo: Let's see. So 216 00:51:57.185 --> 00:52:08.589 Savannah Gilbo: I think it's Winnie says. What if the protagonist starts as a baby? So that's interesting. My gut! Answer and take this with a grain of salt is I would, I would think about. 217 00:52:09.030 --> 00:52:14.710 Savannah Gilbo: You know 1st of all, how is your reader going to relate to a baby character. 218 00:52:15.130 --> 00:52:24.400 Savannah Gilbo: and think about like the the example I want to give is again in Harry Potter, because it's similar. Right in the beginning of that story. Harry's a baby. We're not in his point of view. 219 00:52:24.470 --> 00:52:25.660 Savannah Gilbo: So 220 00:52:25.980 --> 00:52:44.970 Savannah Gilbo: you know, I think that's a creative way of handling a character. That's a baby, is how would we? How would we give readers a baby's point of view? Maybe you've come up with a creative way to do that. But we wanna make sure our readers can relate to whoever that viewpoint character is, and then I would also just double check. Are you starting your story late enough like 221 00:52:45.020 --> 00:52:57.239 Savannah Gilbo: meaning? Are you building up to the main events of your plot and your conflict? Or are you starting to give readers all of the history of this character? So we want to make sure we're not doing the later. So we don't wanna 222 00:52:57.350 --> 00:53:07.750 Savannah Gilbo: dump all this stuff on readers and say, here's how my my kid's life was until the age of 14. And then the story really starts on for on age 14. So just a couple of things to think about. 223 00:53:08.360 --> 00:53:25.190 Savannah Gilbo: Alright, yeah. And I see people saying the Martian in the chat. So it's funny cause I think the the planet. It's a source of conflict, right? So, in a way, yes, it's the antagonist, and he has to survive that. But also think about the people on the ground who are 224 00:53:25.581 --> 00:53:34.020 Savannah Gilbo: have opposing goals to him. Right? So they're not always in agreement. There's people that decide to leave him there. There's people that put him up on the planet. 225 00:53:34.220 --> 00:53:39.800 Savannah Gilbo: you know. So think about how those people embody what maybe Mars is 226 00:53:40.400 --> 00:53:42.470 Savannah Gilbo: showing us right in a different way. 227 00:53:43.400 --> 00:53:45.160 Savannah Gilbo: All right, let's see. 228 00:53:45.820 --> 00:54:04.094 Savannah Gilbo: Chris says, how can you use the same approach to build subplots involving other characters. So I think this is a great exercise to do for your secondary characters. You don't want to fall, too, in the weeds that you're doing this for the next 10 years. Right? But you it's worthwhile to think through it. 229 00:54:04.410 --> 00:54:22.040 Savannah Gilbo: for example, like a side character, you could do the same question. So what do they want? Why do they want it? What are they trying to do to get it? And then what conflict will they face? And you could draw that thematic significance? Kind of map of how the antagonist affects them as well? I think that'd be a really fun exercise. 230 00:54:23.720 --> 00:54:26.299 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. Let's see. 231 00:54:26.610 --> 00:54:34.410 Savannah Gilbo: Diana says. Can the antagonist change at the midpoint? Once the protagonist discovers a hidden agenda. So 232 00:54:34.700 --> 00:54:41.909 Savannah Gilbo: kind of I want. I'm gonna say, kind of, because from the protagonist perspective, it changes right from your perspective. 233 00:54:41.980 --> 00:54:46.060 Savannah Gilbo: you should be able to see a through line of the whole story of your antagonist. 234 00:54:46.120 --> 00:54:51.089 Savannah Gilbo: You're one central antagonist and their their impact on the protagonist. 235 00:54:51.508 --> 00:54:58.131 Savannah Gilbo: So again, like in Harry Potter, I keep using this example, because I just analyzed it for multiple years. 236 00:54:58.510 --> 00:55:09.659 Savannah Gilbo: Voldemort doesn't even show up until, like the very end of the book, right? We don't see him on the page until almost the very end. But you bet that Rolling knew that's where her story was going, right. So 237 00:55:09.680 --> 00:55:38.564 Savannah Gilbo: as long as you know who the main antagonist is, and you drop like. For example, there's a scene where a troll gets let in right. The troll is a direct result of what Voldemort and quarrel are doing. So Harry's facing conflict on a day to day level, but it's caused by Voldemort and quarrel. So think about your story like that. And from your protagonist perspective. Yes, they're gonna see something different at that midpoint. That's okay. Right? You need to know, 238 00:55:38.930 --> 00:55:42.149 Savannah Gilbo: that the conflicts are related hopefully, that makes sense. 239 00:55:43.480 --> 00:55:45.339 Savannah Gilbo: Alright. Let's see. 240 00:55:46.680 --> 00:56:11.870 Savannah Gilbo: Christophro. Sorry I'm gonna say this wrong, Christophro says, can you have a 1st person point of view for protagonist and 3rd person limited for the antagonist. So technically you can, because it's your story, and you can do whatever you want. However, as a reader, I've read stories like that where it's either we switch 1st person to 3, rd or whatever or it's like book one is in 1st and Book 2 is in 3.rd And as a reader I find that jarring 241 00:56:12.088 --> 00:56:17.109 Savannah Gilbo: I don't know if you guys relate if put a yes in the chat, if you're like. Yes, that's also jarring to me. 242 00:56:17.361 --> 00:56:26.909 Savannah Gilbo: You know. So I would always just ask if you want to do something stylistic like that. Just think about why like, why do? Why are you doing that? Is it because you think it's going to be 243 00:56:27.163 --> 00:56:50.189 Savannah Gilbo: different is, do you think it's gonna pull readers into one perspective more, because Devil's advocate, you can get readers just as close to your character as you can in 1st as you can in 3.rd So I would just think about like, why do you want to do that? And then and I see D says, I like the point of view switch so could be a personal opinion. But just make sure you have a solid reason why. And then, of course, you can do whatever you want. 244 00:56:51.721 --> 00:57:12.298 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, so let's see, how do you weave? This is anonymous. How do you weave antagonist backstory into the story? So this depends on what kind of story you're writing right like there's a way to weave it in where, let's say, your protagonist is trying to find out more about the antagonist. Will you weave in their back story as the protagonist learns it right? 245 00:57:12.620 --> 00:57:15.309 Savannah Gilbo: if you have the antagonist point of view. 246 00:57:15.590 --> 00:57:31.960 Savannah Gilbo: you can weave it in just like you would your protagonist. So anytime there's something in the present. That kind of triggers, or like opens up the door to include some backstory. You can do it like that. So it kind of just depends on how you're telling the story and and whose point of view you're including, and things like that. 247 00:57:33.260 --> 00:57:39.169 Savannah Gilbo: Okay, let's see, probably only have time for a few more, Michelle, for feel free to interrupt me at any point. 248 00:57:41.330 --> 00:57:42.580 Savannah Gilbo: let's see. 249 00:57:42.590 --> 00:57:46.210 Savannah Gilbo: Joe says. Can the antagonist be the inner voice? So 250 00:57:46.680 --> 00:58:01.149 Savannah Gilbo: I'm gonna say, I would not recommend that because the inner voice is kind of like that inner obstacle, it's the inner internal conflict that the protagonist needs to overcome. Right? Yes, it's a source of conflict. It's great conflict. But 251 00:58:01.780 --> 00:58:15.689 Savannah Gilbo: from a reader's perspective, how long is that going to sustain their interest? Right. If there's if we're always in the Characters Head, and we're not experiencing conflict on the page. Is that going to be interesting enough? And maybe you found a great way to do that 252 00:58:15.940 --> 00:58:32.579 Savannah Gilbo: fine but usually I find drafts that are all kind of that internal conflict, or the inner voice is the only source of conflict. It just doesn't work out. So again, take it with a grain of salt. Maybe you found a way to do that, but my advice would be to externalize that internal conflict somehow. 253 00:58:33.490 --> 00:58:35.969 Savannah Gilbo: All right, let's see. 254 00:58:37.530 --> 00:58:39.613 Savannah Gilbo: just looking for the most. 255 00:58:40.460 --> 00:58:59.229 Savannah Gilbo: Let's see, Jay says I'm frustrated with my story today because I'm worried. I've given too much of the story to the antagonist. Is it possible to flesh them out? Too much? So in theory it's possible to do anything too much right? But I think it's great that you know your antagonist so well. I would just go back to thinking about first, st like. 256 00:58:59.230 --> 00:59:19.120 Savannah Gilbo: I've seen this happen before, where, you know, a writer will ask me a similar question, and I say, Well, what if your antagonist is actually the protagonist like, how would that feel? So question to think about? And then, if you're like Nope, they're the antagonist, then just do the work to get to know your protagonist and you know. Make sure you're giving equal 257 00:59:19.230 --> 00:59:22.070 Savannah Gilbo: thought equal air time to them, and I think you'll be fine. 258 00:59:23.730 --> 00:59:29.970 Savannah Gilbo: Alright, Michelle, do you want to interrupt me? Cause I see you posted the there you are. The questions in the chat. 259 00:59:29.970 --> 00:59:33.199 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: That is fine. Thank you so much, Savannah, and thank you. 260 00:59:33.200 --> 00:59:33.650 Savannah Gilbo: To every. 261 00:59:33.650 --> 00:59:46.200 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Already who attended and submitted all of your questions. We will have the slides, the replay, everything up on the hub soon. So check back there, and we have another session coming up in an hour, so we will see you. Then. 262 00:59:46.760 --> 00:59:47.890 Savannah Gilbo: Thank you. Everybody. 263 00:59:48.840 --> 00:59:49.530 Michelle @ ProWritingAid: Bye.