Naomi Dawn Musch

A sure way to ramp up tension in a novel is incorporate more than one antagonist and to give the reader a glimpse into their psyche. I prefer to do this on several levels by using man vs. man, man vs. self, and man vs. nature -- all three if possible. As a reader, I enjoy a story more when there are a variety of antagonists as well.

T.L. Higley did this extremely well in her 2011 release, Pompeii: City on Fire. I was spellbound by the number of antagonists in her story, every one of them ramping up the tension with evil presence.

Of course the primary antagonist is Mount Vesuvius itself. But even in this man vs. nature aspect, Higley gave Vesuvius character, telling portions of the story through the eyes of the volcano viewing itself as a mother-god whose children have been ungrateful and would receive the recompense for their neglect. Higley incorporates two very heinous political antagonists whose depravity knows no bounds. She also created antagonists in the gladiator arena who give the main character reasons to worry on several levels. Finally, there is the antagonist of self, which, without it, the story would contain no character arc, no growth.

As I implied earlier, it's important that readers have glimpses into the psyche of some of your antagonists. They should understand what makes them tick, even if it (hopefully does) make them despise or fear the antagonist more.

• Antagonists may be ultra-evil, and if they are evil at all, ultra-evil is even better.

• Antagonists may be merely annoying, but then they should be annoying to the point of causing upset.

• Antagonists can be weak-minded but able to cause huge stumbling blocks to the protagonist's goal.

• In the case of the "self" antagonist, there has to be continued reasons for the character to continue in a pattern of wrong thinking or misunderstanding.

 

Examine your WIP for clearly defined antagonists. Is there another way you can ramp up their hindering ability? Can they become more menacing? Is there another antagonist who can enter the plot? You can deepen your story conflict and provide more layers by considering more antagonism.

Write on!

Book Two: THE RED FURY coming October 15th!