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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29888
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29888
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Don't spice up the goal, spice up the antagonist. Pinky and the Brain had the same goal every week: to take over the world! It mattered not a whit. It was just an excuse for mousy mayhem. Taking over the world is just a McGuffin, the thing everyone wants that provides the impetus for the plot.

It does not matter what the MacGuffin is. It is what the characters are willing to do, or not willing to do, to get their hands on it. In Casablanca we are asked to believe that there are a pair of magic passes that the local Nazi authorities cannot cancel, even with a known resistance organizer walks out to the plane. It is an absurd conceit, and it doesn't matter, because what really matters is whether or not Rick is going to stand by his word that he does not stick his neck out for anybody. What choice will he make? It is the heart of the story. It is the heart of every story.

What is the moral question that your protagonist and your antagonist must face? All of your plot should be about forcing them to face that question. Often new writers invent a ton of fake history with no real idea of what story it is supposed to support. And then at a certain point they realize that their characters and their motivations are not very convincing or interesting. And that is because they started from the wrong end of the problem.

All stories are moral. The are all about a choice of values, both for the protagonist and the antagonist. Everything else is a McGuffin.

Original score: 8