 Mystery: May 08, 2013 Issue [#5664] |
  Mystery
This week: Opposing Forces Edited by: Jeff  
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"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
-- Carl Sagan
Mystery Trivia of the Week: In addition to writing his own Philip Mercer series of adventure thrillers, author Jack Du Brul has also co-authored several "Oregon Files" books with bestselling novelist Clive Cussler. In fact, Philip Mercer even makes an appearance in the eighth installment of the series (The Jungle), published in 2011.
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OPPOSING FORCES
I recently participated in a discussion for a writer's group where the topic was how to construct a proper villain. Not just who your antagonist should be, but how they fit into a story. For me, an antagonist is an opposing force whose presence in the narrative is for one of the following three specific purposes:
 To achieve the opposite goal of the protagonist.
To prevent the protagonist from achieving his or her goal.
To accomplish both of the above, if at all possible.
Consider the following movies. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day the antagonist (T-1000) has a goal that's the complete opposite of Arnold's character. Arnold wants to save John Connor and keep him alive, while the T-1000 is determined to kill the boy before he can grow into the leader of the resistance. In The Matrix, however, Agent Smith's goal is more specifically to prevent Neo from achieving his goal of liberating people from their oblivion. And in The Dark Knight, the Joker actually manages to achieve both by having an opposite goal (to create chaos where Batman wants to impose order) and to prevent Batman from achieving his goal (by pushing him to lose control and break his one rule).
What's particularly great about The Dark Knight is the fact that the actions of Batman and the Joker actually cause their opponent to escalate in response. At the beginning of the movie, Batman is cleaning up the streets and the villains (the mob) turn to the Joker in desperation. But once the Joker starts terrorizing people, it makes Batman more committed to finding and stopping him. And once Batman ratchets up the pressure, the Joker becomes more focused on destroying him. But the Joker's increased focus on Batman forces Batman to really look at who he is and what he stands for... which is ultimately what allows him to achieve his goal of maintaining order (by sacrificing himself for the sake of Harvey memory and the people of Gotham).
It's a pretty great way to structure and escalate conflict.
When you're designing villains... or perhaps, more aptly, antagonists, consider how they impact your protagonist and his or her goals. If your protagonist is a cop, the criminal antagonist is so much more compelling when he or she is doing something in direct opposition to what the protagonist is trying to accomplish. That's also why disaster movies are often so compelling... the environment itself is the antagonist, and every minute of the story is spent trying to escape from something that could kill the protagonist at any moment. Antagonists shouldn't just be generic bad guys; they should be the antithesis of what the good guy stands for. They should be the protagonist's polar opposite; the embodiment of someone or something whose goal is in direct conflict.
What's really great about this particular way of thinking about antagonists is that it can help you lay out your plot. One of the most frustrating things about the writing process for me is figuring out what my protagonist is going to do. I know I want to write a heist story, but what scenes and sequences do I fill the story with? Well, think about it from the antagonist's point of view. What would the owner of the casino, or the curator of the museum do to stop a theft? Automated security system? Yep. Patrolling guards? Probably. Countermeasures to incapacitate anyone who sets off the alarm? Why not? Suddenly, you've got the obstacles your protagonist needs to overcome in order to succeed. He or she has to disable the security system, get past the patrolling guards, and make sure not to set off the countermeasures during the heist. By figuring out the opposing force first, I've given my protagonist a structured template of the things he or she is going to have to overcome in order to reach his or her goal.
It's easy to think of villains and antagonists in terms of being a nuisance that the protagonist must overcome. But the best ones, the truly memorable characters and circumstances that oppose your heroes and heroines are the ones that are so inextricably tied to them that they're truly the opposite side of the same coin. The next time you plan out a story, take a look at your antagonist and ask yourself if that antagonist is just an obstacle, or a truly opposing force whose own success can only be achieved by the failure of the protagonist.
Until next time,
-- Jeff
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I encourage you to check out the following mystery items:
Perched and slightly tilted, a petite crystal tiara on the crown of her head. Enveloping her hour glass frame, a v-neck lacy layered sheath, reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe. Peeking from under the hem of her gown, red polished toenails. They sat atop Swarovski bejeweled six inch spiked heels that glistened as she strode sensually down the carpeted aisle.
The glow of the full moon through the blotchy clouds cast a mesmerizing reflection on the still water of the lake. Moisture on bare feet from the damp grass glistened under the dense light through the trees. A hair-raising howl in the distance broke the seductive song of crickets and tree frogs. The air in her lungs froze. She crouched down even further into the bush. White knuckles gripped her bow. An echo of the same horrid wail rattled her bones as she darted her eyes in the precise direction.
I’d been carrying these bits and pieces around for years, finely the last piece, fell in place not too long ago; they say fact is stranger than fiction, sometimes I wonder if the two don’t run together or do the lines merge together after a time or do they run in and out of each other as our shadows fall across others.
I like to think that wondering stars are destined to come together out there somewhere and when it does, I think that’s when the magic begins.
I remember lying in the dirt surrounded by forest. Surrounded by Vampires.
“Not good enough!”
Brian Trant pulled the paper from his typewriter and tossed it aside.
“What’s not good enough?”
Brian spun, “what the hell?” Who was in his apartment at this hour of the night? A young girl apparently, a strangely dressed one at that. “Where did you come from?” He asked.
“That way,” She replied, pointing at a blank wall.
“There’s nothing there,” He said confused and a bit angry.
“Can’t you see the door?” She said smirking.
I can’t believe how the police and detectives are on my back for murder. Their evidence was that I was across the hallway from Charlie Mana and ‘didn’t call the police’. I was just about to after I saw what happened but my neighbor agreed that she should call the police. She just recently got her hair dyed and got some tattoos. She is hardly recognizable. I saw a splatter of blood across her shoe which I suspected was from Charlie’s dead body. I had a little bit of blood on my shoes, too. The police immediately suspected me because I was just standing there, staring, when they arrived. I tried to tell them what happened but they just immediately cuffed me.
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Feedback from my last newsletter about the mysteries of human behavior:
Tornado Dodger  writes, "Your editorials are always so intelligently written Jeff. I love reading them. Thanks for taking the time to write them and inspire us with creative topics.  "
Thank you for the exceedingly kind words! 
pinkbarbie writes, "Wonderful newsletter. I totally agree with Maslow's humanistic view. Thank you."
You're very welcome! 
Mark Allen Mc Lemore  writes, "Great newsletter, it really makes me want to go back and study some of my own characters, which, to my surprise, I may not really know as well as I think I do. Oh my, what if I discover something horrifying and they come after me?"
Then it sounds like you've got another installment of a story to tell! 
Quick-Quill  writes, "I really would love to see this broken down more. Paragraph 5 is somewhat questionable to me. I see that it is probably true, but I would love to see examples. Something that makes me say AHA thats what its about. I know in real life things out of kilter keep are unsettling, but in a book it has to be magnified (I think) to make it a real issue. That's what I want to see."
I think examples of those things in the fifth level (self-actualization) are best viewed through the lens of when they're taken away. Normal, everyday people may steal - given the opportunity - if they're starving and they need food to satisfy their Level 1 needs, even if the person would otherwise hold themselves to a moral standard where theft is considered wrong and avoided on moral reasons. Similarly, the ability to create something or be spontaneous may be hampered to extinguished if you don't have the self confidence for the undertaking in the first place. But you rarely have self confidence if you don't also have a sense of belonging, which you rarely have without a feeling of security... and so on.
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