All the Story Structure You’ll Ever Need: The Villain Starts the Story, the Hero Ends It

Best-selling author and veteran editor Philip Athans drills the dreaded subject of story structure down to its most primal state. Beginning with the idea that the definition of a story is characters in conflict, we’ll focus on the conflicted relationship between your villain/antagonist and your hero/protagonist. We’ll expand the definitions of “hero,” “villain,” and “conflict” in an effort to create robust, well-rounded, and plausibly motivated characters. Then we’ll put them at odds with each other in the beginning of your story, keep them at odds with each other through the middle, and drive them both to a satisfying ending. Open to authors of all genres and all skill levels.