. . . everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story. Hamlet could be told from Polonius's point of view and called The Tragedy of Polonius, Lord Chamberlain of Denmark. He didn't think he was a minor character in anything, I daresay. Or suppose you're an usher in a wedding. From the groom's viewpoint he's the major character; the others play supporting parts, even the bride. From your viewpoint, the wedding is a minor episode in the very interesting history of your life, and the bride and groom both are minor figures.

- John Barth

In our character-based approach to writing fiction, we have focused on developing characters without much serious thought as to what role they may or may not play in the story for which they are ultimately destined. One of the more important decisions you will make about your characters is whether they will play the role of the hero or the villain. In writers' speak, you will need to decide whether your major characters are protagonists or antagonists. The only way to determine this, however, is to begin to think about the central conflict of the story. The protagonist is the character "engaged" in trying to overcome the central conflict, and the antagonist is the character (or "thing") creating the conflict.

Of course it's not that simple, and there are many gray areas. For example, a story may possess both a strong external conflict and a strong internal conflict. In some cases, like in the case of an imagined external conflict, the internal and external conflict may come into conflict (more on this when we discuss unreliable narrators next week). Or consider that different readers may read stories in different ways, and this can change one's perception of who is the protagonist. For example, in The Great Gatsby, is Jay Gatsby the protagonist or is Nick? Should the central conflict phrased as a question be something like A) Will Gatsby get the girl? or B) Will Nick come to terms with his experience living in the East? Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is another great text to ponder when trying to understand how difficult it may be to define protagonists and antagonists in relation to the central conflict in a story. The one thing that is not in question, however, is the central role of conflict in determining whether a character is a protagonist or an antagonist. As such, it is now time for us to determine what the central conflict of our stories is.

In addition to conflict, which will move the action of the story forward as the protagonist tries to overcome it, theme plays an equally, if not more, critical role. Theme may be described as "what the story is really about." It is, according to Charters in The Story and Its Writer, "[t]he central, unifying point or idea that is made concrete, developed and explored in the action and the imagery of a work of fiction." The writer who gives some thought to theme before they begin writing will have an easier time establishing the theme in the reader's mind from the outset.

Keep in mind, as you move forward, that the best laid plans may be foiled by your characters. In a character-based approach to writing, we remain open to these curve balls, rather than being a slave to a carefully outlined, rigid plot. Also keep in mind that in the revision process, major changes may completely shift some of the decisions we thought we had made regarding protagonists, antagonists and conflict. We will discuss this more next week when we discuss point-of-view and narration.

Writing Exercises

On a sheet of paper, brainstorm what the central conflict of your story might be. Once you have a grasp on what the conflict is, phrase it as a question. For example, in Crane's story "The Open Boat" (which I suggested for this week), the central conflict is introduced at the outset and may be expressed as a simple question: "Will the narrator survive?" By reducing your central conflict to a simple question, you will identify the protagonist. Now identify who or what would stand in the way of the protagonist overcoming the conflict, and you have your antagonist.

"In medias res" translates as "in the middle of things", and sometimes this is exactly the right place to start your story. For this exercise pick a dramatic event emblematic of the central conflict, and write an opening paragraph that puts your protagonist right in the middle of that dramatic event. Remember, this is an opening paragraph, so think carefully about characterization, as you should assume your reader has no knowledge of your character. If your antagonist is a character, you can do this exercise again, but this time put your antagonist in the middle of the dramatic event. The goal of this exercise is to introduce both conflict and character in a strong opening.

Now write an opening paragraph for a story that doesn't begin "in medias res". Instead focus on introducing the story's theme through your opening paragraph, while at the same time using characterization to introduce your character to the reader. Be sure there is tension implicit in the scene even though the main conflict isn't present explicitly (think of devices like Hemingway's use of a train station for the setting of "Hills Like White Elephants" and Banks' use of a heat wave in the opening of "Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat"). The goal of this exercise is to introduce theme, character and tension in a strong opening that does not deal (explicitly) with the central conflict.

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Homework: Develop the opening (not to exceed 900 words or about three pages) to the story you want to tell for the next four weeks. On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following three questions: 1) Who is the protagonist? (I'm looking for a first and last name here), 2) What is the conflict expressed as a question?, and 3) Who or what is the antagonist? The goal of this assignment is to come up with a possible opening for your story (short story, novel, etc.) that introduces 1) the protagonist, 2) the central conflict (or tension) and 3) the theme. Bring copies to class for everyone.

Suggested Reading for Next Week: "An Act of Vengeance" by Isabel Allende; "The Swimmer" by John Cheever; "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor

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