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- How do you create a main character who is an antagonist?
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Category Archives: Characters
The Four Throughlines in To Kill A Mockingbird
There are four throughlines that must be explored in every story for it to feel to readers or audience that the underlying issues have been fully explored and the message fully supported. Throughline 1: The Objective Story The Objective Story is … Continue reading
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The Penance of the Lambs
In the classes I teach on story structure I often point to Clarice Starling (Jody Foster) in The Silence of the Lambs as a great example of a Success/Bad story in which the goal (save the senator’s daughter from Buffalo Bill) … Continue reading
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Your Influence Character is the Heart of Your Story
What is an Influence Character? It is the one who has an opposite philosophy, morality, or personal code to that of the Main Character. Over the course of a story, the Influence Character continually pressures the Main Character’s core beliefs, … Continue reading
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Characters: Cogs in the Machine?
From a structural standpoint, characters are just cogs in the machine. They have a job to do in the story as a protagonist, antagonist or any one of the functional roles that must be filled for the story to make … Continue reading
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SECRETS of the Protagonist…
The Protagonist is one of the most misunderstood characters in a story’s structure. It is often assumed that this character is a typical “Hero” who is a good guy, the central character in the story, and the Main Character (the … Continue reading
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Protagonist & Antagonist – Who ARE These Guys?
The protagonist and antagonist may not be who you think they are. For one thing, a protagonist is not necessarily the hero of a story. Structurally speaking, the protagonist is the one who shakes up the status quo – that’s … Continue reading
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Choosing Your Main Character’s Resolve
The Main Character represents the audience’s position in the story. Therefore, whether he or she changes or not has a huge impact on the audience’s story experience and the message you are sending to it. Some Main Characters grow to … Continue reading
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Creating Characters from Plot
Introduction If you already have a story idea, it is a simple matter to create a whole cast of characters that will grow out of your plot. In this lesson we’re going to lay out a method of developing characters … Continue reading
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Creating Characters from Scratch
Where Do Characters Come From? When we speak of characters from a structural standpoint, there are very specific guidelines that determine what is a character and what is not. But when we think of characters in every day life, they … Continue reading
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Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist drives the plot forward. Antagonist tries to stop him. The Protagonist is the Prime Mover of the effort to achieve the Story’s Goal. The Antagonist is the Chief Obstacle to that effort. In a sense, Protagonist is the irresistible … Continue reading
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