  Short Stories
This week: Who is your Antagonist? Edited by: Legerdemain  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.
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Who is your Antagonist?
Do you visualize your story protagonist as Rudolph Valentino of silent films, handsome with piercing stares? Will he try to save someone like Lillian Gish? Are your antagonists more like the cartoon character Snidely Whiplash with a handlebar moustache, top hat and cape? Does your protagonist Dudley Do-Right save the day?
Your antagonist is the adversary or opponent of your protagonist. But your story doesn't have to be written from the protagonist point of view. Think about writing a story from your antagonist's perspective. The protagonist can still solve the problem but why not narrate your story from a different view? Going on with my cartoon analogies, use idea characters like Tom from Tom and Jerry, or Wile E. Coyote, showing the coyote setting up intricate traps for the Road Runner only to have them backfire in his face. The cartoon shows the coyote for most of the time, with the road runner zipping through for a short period. Couldn't this work for a story?
I'm not saying your portfolio should be come a Looney Tunes bin, but if you have a story idea and you're not sure how you should approach writing it, give point of view a thought. Antagonist or protagonist? Maybe you have a work in progress that is muddled and frustrating. Try changing your narrator, or point of view and see if it clears up your story. Sssssufferin' sssssuccotash, I need to edit! Write on!
This month's question: Do you try a different narrator or point of view when your story becomes confusing?
Send in your reply below, editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: I learned a lot about villains from watching Latino soaps on TV, called telenovelas.
Excerpt: Swallowing hard, tasting blood, I peered into the mirror, opened my mouth cautiously at first, then opened it wider. The gaps were horrifying.
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Excerpt: Fitch didn't show any signal that he saw or heard Kenjiro. He sat on a chair in the small interrogation room, his knees tucked under his chin and his arms wrapped around his legs, making him look small, vulnerable, and scared. His eyes bounced around the room, always looking away from something.
Excerpt: Eddie could hear the low rumble of thunder echo in the distance as he snuck out of his parents beach front cottage. Not even an hour before rain had poured down in massive icy sheets; little missiles peppering the sand like carpet bombing. The wind, the last remnant of the storm, was content to stick around, howling and pushing its way inland causing American flags hanging in front of all the expensive houses to wave in full view. Even Mr. Randleman's forty foot monstrosity managed to unfurl in full tactless glory, something it almost never got to do.
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This month's question: Do you try a different narrator or point of view when your story becomes confusing?
Last month's question: Do you follow a formula for your short stories?
swanlakegrrl replied: Hi! I favor two ways of story cooking. Sometimes I start with a set of characters, and while I flesh out the characters, asking questions about them, conflicts and motives will arise. I will do that, until I'm certain my characters will have the reader's full sympathy, even if they aren't flawless (they never are in my world).
And then there's the idea approach, which works great for short stories. I begin with a situation, and idea, and then I keep asking questions about the situation. Soon the opposing characters will have formed in my mind. Of course, they will never be explored as deeply as in the first approach, but will serve great to drive the plot forward.
chopstixd responded: Recipes are fine for beginning cooks, but experienced chiefs learn, through experience, food's characteristics such as texture, flavor, how they react to low temperatures, how they react to intense flame, how much they absorb air when whisked, etc. They learn, through experimentation, better ways to combine flavors, create textures and sculpt attractive presentations. Not all experiments succeed. Most of us learned to writing basics in school. Sometime, we get the notion to write, some for the pleasure of it and others to see our work in print. Formulas present a short cut, a way to produce acceptable stories fit for print. They are fine in the much the same way a beginning cook's fare is fine. I prefer more interesting stuff. For me, each story is an experiment. I cast of any notion of formula at the outset.
blunderbuss answered: I don't think I follow a formula. The stimulus is often a particular situation or 'conflict' and can arise from anything - a news item, for example. I am very bound to setting especially to a time period - I am either in the present or a very definite historical period. Beginnings can be difficult - trying to hook the reader in with something unique is extraordinarily difficult and I don't want to restrict myself too much by that.
How far (roughly) do you read a story before you give up on it? When you decide you don't want to read any further? I would be interested to know about the 'average' on this - whatever an 'average' might be!
bertiebrite hoping for peace  submitted: I do not follow a formula for short stories. Usually I just sit down and write. I don't think that I have ever followed any sort of formula, even when I was in school. Perphaps it would be easier if I did, less re-writing and fractional problems, but I feel restricted by outlines and formulas, so I just write. I let reviewers and editors help me with the uneven spaces.
Farooq sent: When I decide to write it is based only on a rough idea of the story. But while I am writing the story starts developing and I find myself playing with various ideas and scenarios to put in my story. I dont know whether not having a formula is a good way to write. But I simply write.
Jeannie Cheering for Martel  commented: First of all, thank you for posting my story in your newsletter. I appreciate it. Yes, I like creating interesting characters that have certain flaws with their different personalities. A good plot is the key on which I like to build on until reaching the final scene. A great climax is a must for me. I don't leave my readers hanging.
whimsicalme replied: Actually, I do follow a formula, not consciously, but it seems to occur naturally during the course of writing. The character is what I stress in my short stories, and the plot fits in with the character.
mtndoc sent a thanks: Just a word of thanks from a Newbie. I look forward to each newsletter, as I am writing many short (non-fiction) short stories of my 35 year, 1.7 million air mile career spent traveling the world. I plan to bind them into a book for my family. The valued input from many of the preferred authors have helped me go back and revise (improve) each story. Thanks again for the support.
bertiebrite hoping for peace reveals: I do not follow a formula for short stories. Usually I just sit down and write. I don't think that I have ever followed any sort of formula, even when I was in school. Perphaps it would be easier if I did, less re-writing and fractional problems, but I feel restricted by outlines and formulas, so I just write. I let reviewers and editors help me with the uneven spaces.
LJPC - the tortoise sent: Hi Leger!
Thanks for the fun recipe analogy and mentioning all the important aspects to include in a successful short story. I'm glad you put 'character' first -- one can't overstate their importance -- and that you mentioned theme. That one's often overlooked by beginning writers.
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Short Stories: April 11, 2012 Issue [#4989]
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