Thread: How Long Can You Put Off Direct Conflict Between Protagonist and Antagonist?

In my current WIP my protagonist and antagonist do not actually meet or become aware of each other until a third of the way into the story. Even then they do not immediately become enemies or realize that the other is or will become an opponent. That comes later. I have not yet decided when the characters will make that discovery. I gave my characters some personal conflict in the early chapters to reveal character. How long will a typical reader wait for the protagonist and the antagonist to actually start butting heads?

According to the Official Rules and Regulations of the International Society of Novel Writers, you are within accepted guidelines – but you’re probably pushing it.

Originally Posted by C.M. Aaron

In my current WIP my protagonist and antagonist do not actually meet or become aware of each other until a third of the way into the story. Even then they do not immediately become enemies or realize that the other is or will become an opponent. That comes later. I have not yet decided when the characters will make that discovery. I gave my characters some personal conflict in the early chapters to reveal character. How long will a typical reader wait for the protagonist and the antagonist to actually start butting heads?

Let me take over the writing, and with a little bit of luck I should be able to have them limp along all the way to the de-noo-mon without ever once angry words passing between them.

Originally Posted by JosephB

According to the Official Rules and Regulations of the International Society of Novel Writers, you are within accepted guidelines – but you’re probably pushing it.

I heard the ISNW had been disbanded. You should check more closely in future, before posting.

I agree with JoeB, it's pushing it.

Have you considered introducing the character earlier but in a neutral role, letting 'him' wander into the story and wander out before the moment 'he' is revealed as the antagonist? You state that they don't become enemies straight away. In that case couldn't they meet earlier?

Producing an antagonist when one is required, is often not as effective as him being there all the time but not identified as such.


It's probably not appropriate in your storyline, but just in case.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

I heard the ISNW had been disbanded. You should check more closely in future, before posting.

Wrong. They just took you off the mailing list.

Originally Posted by qwertyman

I agree with JoeB, it's pushing it.

I was kidding. I have no idea if he's pushing it or not. I haven't read it.

I havent read it either. That remark was a generic answer. I think it's pushing it.

I think I have already followed your format, Qwertyman. Out of a planned twenty chapters, the antagonist first appears in Ch 2 and again in Ch 6. Protagonist and antagonist first meet in Ch 7. At that point one, or perhaps both, recognize that the other has different priorities than they do and that they will probably not be the best of friends, but that is not the same as recognizing an enemy. The antagonist takes his first steps against the protagonist in Ch 8, but the protagonist does not yet realize she has come under attack. Her misfortune might just be an accident. I have not yet decided when the protagonist realizes she has an enemy who is out to get her, but I guess the reader will first see the direct conflict in Ch 8 (40% into the book). C.M.

in my own WIP, i am currently just over 35,000 words in and the protagonist/antagonist have yet to formally come into contact with each other. i'm estimating at the moment the total wordcount of the novel will be around 100,000 words so in some respects i am in a similar position to you. however, while my antagonist and protagonist have not yet contacted each other, they have both had contact with secondary characters and indirectly with each other through other events. since the novel is not told in a linear narrative i don't feel this lack of contact is neccessarily a problem. i would say that, at this stage, your best bet is to just keep going and not worry about it. if you find the pacing is off when it comes to your second draft then that's when you should go back and make changes.

It's hard to explain it without knowing your work, however if your plot follows a traditional plot-line, similar to the one illustrated below:



...then I would suggest you are definitely probably pushing it if you've got a third of the way through without at least a hint of conflict between your protagonist and antagonist. remember that the reader can be a fickle beast and none more so than an agent or publisher. do not give them a reason to grow bored.

if you want to really build up the tension, i'd recommend putting in an initial event involving both your antagonist and protagonist that at least gives the reader a flavor of what to expect later in the book. this doesnt have to consist of a physical conflict of course. for a good example, consider the beginning of the Harry Potter franchise (i'm basing this on the movie rather than the book because although i did read it i cant actually remember for sure if the book opened with this scene or not) when harry's parents are killed by voldemort and he is left with his aunt and uncle by dumbledore, etc. there you have an event that instantly causes the reader to want to know what happened, and this interest is then sustained for the rest of the book, the majority of which has no contact between the protagonist (harry) and the antagonist (voldemort):



Remember, you don't have to 'give it all away' up front. suspense is a very powerful tool and is essential in many, if not all, genres. but don't dwell on unimportant events. make sure your writing is always GOING SOMEWHERE. hope this helps.

If you are writing 3rd person unlimited and switching between protagonist and antagonist I think you'll be fine. But make sure your readers will anticipate them meeting, and build tension earlier to indicate this. The reader should be happy to wait. If it was 1st person, or 3rd limited, then you may have a problem with making the reader wait.

I'm about halfway through my current - and first - novel, and so far the protagonist and antagonist have only met once. There was only a hint at this point in the story that they might become rivals.

The book is being written in 3rd limited, so to get around the lack of involvement from the antagonist I've had other characters report on his actions throughout the story. I agree with Robdemanc that it's important to build some tension so that people will keep reading in anticipation of the moment when these two meet again later in the book.

If it's right for your story, then go with it. Maybe your protagonist will have other struggles to overcome that will keep readers interested, or will have conflicts with other, lesser opponents before a final conflict with the antagonist.

There's no rule for that! It's completely fine. In fact, depending on the conflict, they don't have to meet at all. That's happening in the story I'm wrapping up! She had a go between-minion- to put into cheesy terms. Because she changed her brain to make her follow her like that....
yeah....

dramatist is right, there are no rules about this. standards, yes, conventions, yes, but no rules. it is completely possible to write a book in which the protagnist and antagonist barely meet at all. lolita by nabokov (probably spelled that wrong) comes to mind.

also, there is no actual rule saying your book has to have a traditional 'protagonist/antagonist' form at all. while conflict is absolutely essential for any book, the use of the anti-hero and character ambiguity can be very effective, especially as fiction moves increasingly in the direction of post-modernism.

For me, it varies.
In one story, it takes forever for PRO and AN to meet.
In another, they meet very early on, but the PRO doesn't recognise the AN, and neither should the reader. Conflict happens at the end, though.
My current work-in-progress sees them meet at the very beginning, although that's hardly 'conflict'. AN dominates the PRO in awesome style.

The question is really whether the story is about the conflict, or is it a story that just happens to end in conflict? If the tale is interesting enough to carry you along I don't think that there is any set point for when a conflict should occur. Having said that, I will likely be taken of the ISNW mailing list and forced to live in purgatory with the Backward Ox.