Antagonistic Beats of a Story: Understanding the Role of the Antagonist in Story Structure

Regular consumers of story, either written or film, learn to recognize the patterns that come with the rise and fall of action. Story structure models provide reasoning and mathematics to what the readers know by instinct. However, many story structure models focus on the protagonist of the story. The antagonist is often treated as insignificant or ignored completely. As such, the dynamic interplay between the protagonist and the antagonist is not leveraged to its full potential.

It is time to focus on the antagonist, examining the role that the antagonist plays within story structure. And this includes the non-corporeal antagonists.

Assess the nature of the antagonists in your stories.
Discover story beats dedicated to the antagonist.
Examine the protagonist/antagonist interplay, strengthening the middle of a story.
Expand the basic story structure to include multiple protagonists or antagonists.
Whether you are writing a romance or a high-octane thriller, gain a better understanding of the antagonist in your story and the significance they have in driving the action.

Judy L Mohr is a writer and story coach, with over a decade of experience pulling apart stories and piecing them back together.