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“Introducing Your Next Characters: How to Outline Your Protagonist and Nemesis”
By: Melanie Faith
Protagonists and antagonists: every story has them, or should have them. Our readers want someone to root for, someone they can identify with as they conquer problems both common and extraordinary. They also want an instigator, a character whose sole goal is to create the tension and conflict we experience in real life.
Think of these characters as paired all-stars in your novel—wherever there’s the protagonist striving to make their hopes and dreams happen with their actions, the antagonist should soon appear to work their devious deeds of mayhem to block those hopes and dreams.
Many writers delve straight into their initial scenes with their protagonist without knowing more about their protagonist than a name and perhaps an age. Certainly, many writers begin stories without knowing anything about the antagonists who will make it their purpose to mar the protagonist at every turn.
While one could free-write scenes for endless weeks or months, the more sensible approach is to do some quick but fruitful pre-writing to “meet” your protagonist and antagonist before setting your scenes to the page.
Outlining character details before writing chapters will:
* save you time figuring out what your protagonist wants,
* save you time and scenes figuring out why your protagonist is doing what (s)he is doing,
* create immediate conflict that sets your novel’s plot into motion,
* help you to pinpoint exactly why this protagonist desires what (s)he desires,
* introduce you to the antagonist’s desires and why (s)he doesn’t want the protagonist to succeed,
* and demonstrate the lengths the antagonist is willing to go to block your protagonist.
To get started, consider the following outlining exercise. Set a clock for fifteen or twenty minutes and answer these questions. Allow ideas and information to bubble up from your subconscious without editing or omitting details. Write as much or as little for each question as you wish. J
There are many, many more approaches for developing notes about your protagonist, numerous of which I’ll explore during my course Outline Your Novel with Ease, but these initial questions will get you well on your way to a juicy conflict and two well-rounded main characters.
Feel free to keep writing beyond the ding of the timer. Pick a few of these questions, or answer them all. Feel free to add details over the following hours and days as they appear to you. Keep in mind that protagonists are not all good and sweet, nor are antagonists all selfish or rude; we’re all a blend of qualities, emotions, circumstances, and missteps.
Then, after a few days, sit down to draft your initial scene. In the scene, use several details directly from this exercise.
By the way, you’ll learn more about your protagonist from this pre-writing exercise than you will include in the scene, which is perfectly normal and a great idea. Think of those “characters” you know in real life—you know a lot more about them (and they about you!) than either of you share directly when communicating.
Meet your protagonist:
* What is their childhood nickname? Do they still go by this name? Would they hide it?
* What is their birth order? Do they have siblings? Would they have liked [more] siblings or no siblings? Does anything in their background influence their thoughts about having or raising children?
* Do they live where they thought they would as a teen? Why or why not? Are they willing to move to another location? Why or why not?
* What is your protagonist’s dream job? Do they currently have that job? Do they have excuses for why they don’t have that job? If so, what are they?
* Describe a time when your protagonist was overlooked or underappreciated. What would it take to make your protagonist feel like a winner?
Meet your antagonist:
* Does your antagonist have a nickname? Do they still use it? Would they hide it?
* Has your antagonist known your protagonist since childhood? Since college? If not, when and how did your antagonist and protagonist meet?
* What was your antagonist’s initial (unspoken) impression of your protagonist? Describe their first conversation.
* What is your antagonist’s biggest regret?
* Describe a time when your antagonist felt like a winner. Then write about a time when your antagonist felt like a complete zero.
Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash .
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
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Photo by Tim Mossholder at unsplash.com .
Like this image I made? Prints available at Write Path Productions.
