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Write Here ... Right Now :: WRITE ON :: THE WRITERS' SALON :: What to do if I don't have any bad-guys?
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AuthorTopic: What to do if I don't have any bad-guys? (Read 34 times)
swashbuckle
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What to do if I don't have any bad-guys?
« Thread Started on Sept 14, 2009, 12:14pm »		[Quote]
Okay,

I have no bad-guy's. My bad-guy's are just normal people living a life as best as they can, and my good-guy's are good-guys and what the heck do I do with them if I don't have any bad-guy's???

:-/
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Re: What to do if I don't have any bad-guys?
« Reply #1 on Sept 14, 2009, 1:53pm »		[Quote]
What situation do you have these characters in? Are your bad guys just like you and I, normal people who sometimes bend the law (such as speeding)? Are your good guys the type of people who don't bend any laws?

A little background information would help us to help you out...
Hope this makes sense?
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Re: What to do if I don't have any bad-guys?
« Reply #2 on Sept 14, 2009, 9:31pm »		[Quote]

Sept 14, 2009, 1:53pm, Morgana wrote:
What situation do you have these characters in? Are your bad guys just like you and I, normal people who sometimes bend the law (such as speeding)? Are your good guys the type of people who don't bend any laws?

A little background information would help us to help you out...
Hope this makes sense?

In many cases, you need a couple of bad guys to move your protagonist along. But, as Morgana says, a little background would be helpful in determining whether bad guys are needed.
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Re: What to do if I don't have any bad-guys?
« Reply #3 on Sept 16, 2009, 4:42pm »		[Quote]
Lord Kare is the ruler of Gallow Castle, he was supposed to be the evil Lord that everyone hates, but he's kinda cool. Lucian is the Captain of the Guards who want to capture Ingvar the Bard, who is part Bard part Thief.

I don't know if that helps. I guess they are normal people. Becuase I do;t just want paper cut outs, but I wasn't counting on these character's become so real to me.

They are also best friens and Kare is a joker.

Okay, I don't know if that helps. The whole plot is that Kare has something that Sindir wants and Sindri uses Ingvar the Bard to get it. So, guess I need to know if I need badguy's for this or if I just have people with reasons for what they are doing, but nothing evil.
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Re: What to do if I don't have any bad-guys?
« Reply #4 on Sept 16, 2009, 9:08pm »		[Quote]

Sept 16, 2009, 4:42pm, swashbuckle wrote:
Lord Kare is the ruler of Gallow Castle, he was supposed to be the evil Lord that everyone hates, but he's kinda cool. Lucian is the Captain of the Guards who want to capture Ingvar the Bard, who is part Bard part Thief.

I don't know if that helps. I guess they are normal people. Becuase I do;t just want paper cut outs, but I wasn't counting on these character's become so real to me.

They are also best friens and Kare is a joker.

Okay, I don't know if that helps. The whole plot is that Kare has something that Sindir wants and Sindri uses Ingvar the Bard to get it. So, guess I need to know if I need badguy's for this or if I just have people with reasons for what they are doing, but nothing evil.

As best I can understand, I think you're going to have to introduce a couple of bad guys. They don't have to be evil, or even all that bad. They do, however, probably need to have some sort of different agenda from the good guys in order to provide the impetus for the good guys to prevail. Does that make sense?
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Re: What to do if I don't have any bad-guys?
« Reply #5 on Sept 16, 2009, 9:22pm »		[Quote]
An antagonist doesn't even have to be human. It can be anything the protagonist works to overcome.
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Re: What to do if I don't have any bad-guys?
« Reply #6 on Sept 17, 2009, 6:47am »		[Quote]
"Badness" doesn't even have to be evil overlord badness. How many times have you become exasperated by someone whose outlook causes you frustration? You can have someone who is a stickler for the rules driving you to despair by their inflexibility; someone who is so sure that they are right to the point of blindness of any other point of view continually blocking your progress... the possibilities are endless!
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Re: What to do if I don't have any bad-guys?
« Reply #7 on Sept 17, 2009, 7:00am »		[Quote]

Sept 17, 2009, 6:47am, Morgana wrote:
"Badness" doesn't even have to be evil overlord badness. How many times have you become exasperated by someone whose outlook causes you frustration? You can have someone who is a stickler for the rules driving you to despair by their inflexibility; someone who is so sure that they are right to the point of blindness of any other point of view continually blocking your progress... the possibilities are endless!

Exactly! It's the possibilities offered by as many peripheral characters as you wish to create that can take a story off into so many different subtexts and exciting diversions before it's all tied together in the end. :)
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You keep running for another place
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Dontcha you, baby?
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