Writing Tip of The Week

The other day I found a scribbled paragraph from a book I read on a small paper among my notes and thought it interesting to share with you :-D.

"The best form of resistance is created by constructing mutually exclusive goals for your protagonist and antagonist. That is, if your protagonist gets what she wants, your antagonist cannot get what he wants, and vice versa. Think of both sets of goals and objectives in positive rather than negative terms; make both characters actively want something, rather than simply having your opponent want to prevent the protagonist achieving her goal. It is immensely helpful to your plotting if both characters are simultaneously moving forward: collision therefore becomes inevitable." ~From "The Creative Writing Coursebook," article (chapter) written by Val Taylor, pg. 220.

I don't think this necessarily applies to all writing, but it is certainly something to think about. For example, in the Crown of Life, my protagonist and antagonist have a mutual goal, namely gaining a seat in Rome and be given prestigious posts at the Palace of the Emperor. The protagonist reaches that goal, the antagonist doesn't in the beginning of the story where the collision happens, which consequences in a switch where the protagonist' goal changes (to seeking the truth), the opponent finds himself in a struggle and his whole desire is to prevent the protagonist achieving his goal while simultaneously having ambitions and goals for himself. I hope that made sense :). So... what do you, fellow writers, think?

~Joy