How to Write Teen Fiction

07 | Protagonist & Antagonist

Protagonists and antagonists are roles that characters play in stories, but what do those nouns mean? Like we have said before and will say again, stories are all about people. Sometimes those people are heroes, while other times, they are villains. Either way, they must be interesting and well-developed to be strong characters in your story.

What is a Protagonist?

The word protagonist is a noun that simply means the leading character of a story, often a good person or hero. While the character is often placed in the category of a good person, it is not a requirement that they are perfect.

An example of a protagonist character that is the hero is Harry Potter in the Harry Potter series. While in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlie is the main character that goes through quite an ordeal while in high school but is not technically the hero of the story.

What is an Antagonist?

The antagonist is actively hostile or opposes the protagonist. In most forms of literature, the antagonist is cast as a bad guy or villain.

An example is that while she is not necessarily evil, Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada is the antagonist to Anne Hathaway's protagonist. A clearer example is the character of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, who actively acts hostile to Harry Potter.

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Tips for writing a Protagonist

There is a reason this character is the lead, and that means making them interesting and captivating other people is the foundation of the story. Here are some tips to help guide you through writing them.

(I) Make them relatable

While the main character is often courageous and has good morals, they are also humans. Humans have flaws that make us imperfect which is usually what other people relate to in those characters. It helps the reader become emotionally invested in the character and what happens to them.

An example would be the character Kate Sharma (Sheffield) in Bridgerton. She is the protagonist in The Viscount Who Loved Me from the Bridgerton series. While she is quite loved, she is often compared to Elizabeth Bennet because they are both stubborn and not interested in compromising. Through falling in love, we see her let her guard down and become more open to others.

(II) Give them a rich history

People are usually the way they are because of what happened to them in the past. It's more compelling when we have someone who has gone through things in their past either to themselves or someone they loved. It creates obstacles when they try to live their daily lives and usually aids in their flaws. Giving a history helps create a more in-depth mental picture.

(III) Find their motivation

Being the lead, this character holds a deck of cards when it comes to how the story is going to go. There is usually a reason why they do what they do. This motivation needs to be strong enough that they power through even when it becomes difficult to do so. This could be a more internal motivation like everyday wants and hopes many of us can relate to. The deeper the motivation, the deeper the reader will dive into their story.

(IV) Evolving

Something that aids in making the characters feel more real is making them evolve. The character doesn't always win the first time around. They don't always save everybody. Sometimes, these people lose. They can make the wrong decisions and feel that being a good buy is too hard. This is where we see these people evolve. They go through self-doubt and hardships that they have to work through. Maturing is necessary for these characters to hold weight in stories.

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Tips for writing an antagonist

A good leader needs a good opposing character. This person can either be the clear villain or someone who simply antagonizes the protagonist throughout the story.

(I) Someone relatable

Much like the protagonist needs to be someone that the reader can connect to, so does your antagonist. It is simply an obsession that the reader has with seeing something good in the villain without wanting to. Maybe they are doing something horrible, but they do it with the right intentions. Maybe they started as a love interest before we realize they are the bad guy. This is where the love-to-hate and hate-to-love tropes come into play.

Like the character Darkling in the Shadow and Bone series, we have someone we first loved. He comes in as a possible savior with Alina and then almost as a love interest before we realize he doesn't have the best intentions. At this point, he becomes the role of the villain for the rest of the series.

(II) Ambition

This character cannot simply sit in a dark corner of the room and plot evil tactics. They need to have motivation and ambition to reach their goals. They need to have a plan of action that usually improves the protagonist. The antagonist's vision must be a powerful force in the story that we want to see play out. Their ambition is what brings them into conflict with the protagonist.

(III) Acting as a menace

Establishing your antagonist as a threat creates conflict within the story that the reader feels emotionally attached to. They wait to see what will happen between the good and the bad guys. Doing this usually means giving your antagonist the green light to win sometimes. As we mentioned earlier, when it came to the protagonist losing, the bad guy must win now and then to make them a viable threat.

Make sure your readers know the stakes of the villain winning. If they succeed in their goals, then what happens to the antagonist? What happens to the world around them? Will people die? These questions must be answered to create a world that feels real to your readers.

We know that in Harry Potter, if Lord Voldemort wins, then most of the non-magical world would most likely cease to exist. Wizards would become far too powerful, and there would be little peace, so Harry must stop him before he can hurt too many people. This doesn't mean that Harry won completely. His entire family and many friends die along the way before he finally defeats Voldemort in the last battle.

Read more on this topic here. 

(IV) Cannot be too powerful

There needs to be some way to defeat the big bad. If they are so powerful that there is no viable way for the protagonist to defeat them, it won't make sense if the antagonist loses. There needs to be a weakness that this character cannot help and must be used against them.

In Twilight, the character James is a tracker that finds Bella tempting and wants to kill her. While he is powerful and skilled, he is not as powerful as the entire Cullen family, which includes a telepath and an older vampire with more knowledge.

Conclusion

With these tips in mind, your story will undoubtedly be an interesting read. Most importantly, have fun! No one will write your story but you, so make it fun for yourself!