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Q&A Can a book be written without an antagonist?

You cannot have a novel without an antagonist. An antagonist comes in two forms: A physical antagonist: a person with a grudge against your protagonist, who will do whatever it takes to overcome t...

posted 7y ago by James‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T01:38:08Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28373
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar James‭ · 2019-12-08T01:38:08Z (over 4 years ago)
You cannot have a novel without an antagonist. An antagonist comes in two forms:

_A physical antagonist_: a person with a grudge against your protagonist, who will do whatever it takes to overcome the protagonist e.g. Voldemort, the Joker, Loki.

There is also the _abstract antagonist_: An event or similar, something like a weakness that the protagonist must overcome to achieve his goals e.g. fear, poverty, a corrupt government.

Either way, an antagonist is an obstacle, designed to prevent the protagonist from achieving his goal. This is where the antagonist is critical: if there is nothing stopping the protagonist, if it is all smooth sailing, then the novel is not exciting, a must for any bestseller, and usually a must if you want to be published.

For your plot, why not bring hell into it? You could send some demons in to wreak havoc on the heavenly community.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-05-31T00:51:46Z (almost 7 years ago)
Original score: 1