Creating an Antagonist

 

Writing my first story (working title: Gone) in a decade, and I’m attempting to put more consideration into character building. In the past, less thought was put into them. I went with my gut, which doesn’t tell you much beyond if it felt good, I used it.  I have learned that if you want to create multiple levels, it pays to consider the nature of your character.

I’m considering the above in reference to developing an antagonist for Gone. Let me give you an idea as to what I had in mind in the beginning. Who is my antagonist? The villain? Not necessarily. It’s the character or thing that stirs the story up. When I wrote Gifted Trust, it was Virago (a badass evil entity who made the lives of most of the other characters hell. In Jaws it could be the shark or even the mayor, who wanted to keep the beach open. The antagonist can be a bad storm or the feeling of loneliness. It is something that if you took it out of the story, there wouldn’t be one.

The original idea of Gone was simplistic. I had my protagonist, a husband and new father, who is forced into remaining in a relationship for his daughter’s sake. As a teen, the girl dies in an accident and the man offered (by the antagonist) the chance to return to the moment that changed his life so he can make corrections.

 I ask again, who is my antagonist? Originally, I saw this as a “deal with the devil” sort of plot – trading for a soul. I wasn’t sure if that was the direction I wanted to go with the story. Still not sure of everything, but I’m not leaning on an evil antagonist, although I am looking at a character like Mephistopheles from Faust and did a pre-Christian search on Pan for personality.

I'm going with Mephista Abendroth ("evening red" in German. It has an air of mystery. Possibly nicknamed Meph or Misti and though she's going to shake things up I don't see her as a source of evil. Although she has a finger in on what is going on.

That’s a start. I’m putting together notes now on her.

Have a good day.