Novel Writing Brainstorming Forum

And the above is another one of those reason I bouncing ideas off Michelle. She gets to the grit of things in case you are looking over it and not sure where to go. Take each point, one at a time, and I always find things I hadn't thought over after sharing with her.

But I wanted to add one more thing. Sometimes thinking in terms of protagonist and antagonist can make you think that the protagonist is a 'good guy' and the antagonist is a 'bad guy'. Stories like Harry Potter will definitely bring that to the table, but not all of them are so clean cut. Snape is one of my favorite characters because he is good and bad. He does good things and bad things and you're never sure which side he's on. Complexity rules!

Don't be afraid to make Slade into someone selfish because he's afraid. Because he can't handle thinking of his old world as gone. Mina might also do similar things to keep her relationship and to establish dominance through Slade. Look through their eyes, not as the 'bad' guys, but as someone who wants something at odds with what the protagonist wants. So if Zan wants to establish a community, maybe Slade and Mina want to take the strong ones to live for themselves because they think the weak ones won't make it. Both of them are serving goals, but both the goals can't be accomplished.

That is one of the ways to make such compelling stories. Like when you make someone choose between something they love and the duty they have committed to. You can totally make that conflict and it will bloom in your story.

I was really glad to see you in the sprint this afternoon! Great work!