Who or What Benefits from Your Protagonist’s Failure?
Here come the bad guys | First Draft November: Day 26
→ This week’s goal: Reach the midpoint twist, escalate pressure from antagonistic forces, and celebrate 50k messy, beautiful words—the bulk of your first draft!
→ Word target: 50k words by the end of the week!
→ Looking for some daily accountability? Join the First Draft November Chat to post your daily word count and connect with your fellow writers.
Hey writers!
We’re only a few more days away from the end of this 50k-word challenge. Hell yeah.
Today, we are talking about the stretch of Act Two where things begin to close in on your protagonist. Whether you’ve already hit 50k or are still climbing toward it, you’re in the territory where tension needs to escalate.
Are you sick of me mentioning tension yet? Too bad! Because now, we’re heading towards the scenes where antagonistic forces—both external and internal—start to tighten their grip. These have the potential to be the most exciting pages of your draft! Focus on bringing that curious energy to the page. See what wild thing happens to your poor protagonist, whose life is about to feel a little out of control (and chaotic).
Here come the bad guys. But first, today’s guiding question:
Who or what benefits from your protagonist’s failure, and how are they closing in?
In the Bad Guys Close In beat, your protagonist’s goal hasn’t changed, but the resistance against them has grown sharper. These “bad guys” don’t have to be villains in the classic sense (though they can be). They might be:
External antagonists: a rival, an enemy, an institution, a storm, a ticking clock
Internal antagonists: the protagonist’s own flaw, fear, or destructive pattern
Situational forces: bad timing, coincidence, betrayal from someone close
The walls are closing in, making forward progress harder, scarier, and riskier. The pressure is mounting as we drive our character towards the All Is Lost moment.
Here are a few more questions to ask if you are feeling stuck:
What’s the worst timing for my protagonist right now?
What does it look like when my protagonist realizes that this is more difficult than they imagined? How do they suffer?
Who else in the story might profit from their downfall?
How can I put pressure on my protagonist from multiple directions?
The goal is to make your protagonist’s path forward feel increasingly unsustainable, so that when we hit their lowest point, it lands with full force.
Keep writing, friends!
P.S. As this challenge winds down, remember your draft doesn’t have to stall out. I’d love to keep working with you inside The Wild Draft, my six-month cohort for writers tackling first or early drafts. Together, we’ll keep the momentum going with craft guidance, accountability, feedback on your pages, and community. Join the waitlist here.
First Draft November is a free-for-all, month-long challenge for writers who are ready to get that novel they’ve been dreaming of on the page. Write with us!