Is an Antagonist needed for a short story?

StellarWorks 2020-03-23 04:05:12 UTC #1

Hey guys! So I've been working on this short story for quite awhile now and realized that I have too many scenes to the point where I think it's losing focus on the protagonist and love interest. Should I cut out the Antagonist completely? I have scenes showing their perspective as well as what lead the antagonist to making bad decisions.

Any thoughts?

RyzaCobalion 2020-03-23 04:26:37 UTC #2

i think it mostly depends on how important the antagonist is the over all story at the end of the arc or the end of the series. Because if you have a villain just for the sake of having one like you needed something end it somehow but you don't know how. For me, making a villain is about what did they do or cause to put the story into motion. Or what has happened that sent them into a downward spiral into villainy do we feel sympathetic to them to becoming the antagonist or do we want to root for the main character to defeat him/her because they're beyond redemption or because they're the one note villain.

But that's my food for thought about this topic.

lwflouisa 2020-03-23 04:32:41 UTC #3

This depends on your approach. It's very common in my work for the real bad guy to either by the MC's hallucination, and some darker aspect of them self that have yet to acknowledge. And that victory is only attained by conquering that.

33rdCenturyCaveman 2020-03-23 05:18:34 UTC #4

There need to be conflict or problem to overcome, otherwise it not story. But conflict not necessarily come from person.

33rdCenturyCaveman 2020-03-23 12:08:30 UTC #5

If there no conflict then it become slice-of-life. Which am honestly okay, just not story.

Me wish my life was more like slice-of-life rather than epic story.

antimekii 2020-03-23 12:13:10 UTC #6

I believe your story does not need an antagonist because the main conflict? of your story will likely be the relationship between your protagonist and love interest. As long as your main character undergoes a character arc within the story it'll be enough.

Mellize 2020-03-23 12:24:01 UTC #7

In a lot of my short stories, my antagonists are not humans but the protagonist's inner self or nature instead since it's easier to depict them than villains. Human antagonists usually need a motive or goal along with some view in their characteristics and how they oppose the protagonist. Quite similar in the protagonist's side but different at the same time depending on certain aspects.

All in all, it would be too much information for me to add in for a short story especially a one shot or a drabble (100 words story). But then again, it really depends on how you portray or set the story in motion.

BobbyjoeX 2020-03-23 15:08:09 UTC #8

the best way of putting it is more "does my antagonist have to be a person" cause hell when its a conflict theres

Man VS Man (usual antagonist like having a villain)
Man Vs Nature (like being lost on a deserted island)
Man Vs Paranormal (or the unknown, not sure)
then theres Man VS Self (like say the person needs to better themself)

this would be a better question to ask yourself but what do i know

Edit: im dyslexic and i thought you were wondering if you should add an antagonist, im an idiot, just ignore me

Rhonder 2020-03-23 15:41:19 UTC #9

Agree with several of the above comments- in short, no, there doesn't necessarily need to be an antagonist. But there does have to be conflict & that comes in all sorts of flavors like @BobbyjoeX outlined above.

If the antagonist is bloating the story too much definitely consider removing them and having the conflict come from another source

Kaylim 2020-03-23 15:55:56 UTC #10

Ahhh oh boy I love this topic bc all my short stories are love stories that focus on the relationship, but have some sort of conflict that helps move the character's relationship forward. Actually, this is one of the things I really like to experiment with (different types of antagonism/conflict), and like you, I sometimes struggle to hit that happy balance of relationship development and conflict. It's one of my goals with every story to get it right (or just about!).

So idk how much of this will help, bc I'm still learning too, but I will share examples using my own work. In my stories there is not always a real defined antagonist (like a masked villain running about), but there is, like @BobbyjoeX other types of conflict present.

For example, in my short story "Barry and the Mountain", the conflict is Man vs Nature and Man vs Self as Barry attempts to wrestle with his grief by essentially trying to conquer a very tall mountain. The mountain god is not so impressed with Barry's ill-conceived attempt, and his desire to educate/help Barry is what brings the characters together.

In the case of "Danica and the Dungeon Spawn", the characters work together to defeat the villain, and so the focus shifts to how that grows their relationship.

In my short story, "Head Scientist and Chief Minion of Hell", the antagonist is job pressure (the pressure Satan puts on his head scientist to create unmentionable horrors). This job pressure drives the head scientist and chief minion closer together as the minion rallies to support the head scientist.

In the above examples I feel like the antagonist is definitely present, and drives the story to start, but fades away in the middle to allow for character relationship development, until the conflict/antagonist is resolved/defeated in the end.

Sometimes I feel like I don't do a great job at balancing. "Kolya and the Harmony of Winter" really focuses on the enemy, and the love interest doesn't come in until the end. I personally feel like that difference is really noticeable.

However, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. I think "Sabriel" by Garth Nix is an excellent example of a fantasy novel that very much focuses on conflict while the romance is nice but takes a backseat. In my series, however, the romance is supposed to be center stage. If your villain is really integral to the plot, and you want the audience to really relate to that villain, then maybe the balance would be tipped more in your villain's favor.