Everyone wants conflict. We love it.

Even in our blog posts.

So, um. You. Reader. I don’t like the color of your house.

There. Now we’re in conflict.  Go ahead. Respond in the comments, or this’ll be one-sided.

But… now we have to decide: Am I the antagonist, or am I the protagonist? We certainly know, most of the time, that we ourselves are the protagonist, of course, but what if you’re really the antagonist and you just don’t know it?

If you’re defeated after the climax of the story, you were probably the antagonist. Unless, of course, it’s a false climax and you’re headed for a new bigger climax where you win big. Then you were the protagonist all along.

If you don’t know when the climax happened in the story, you’re probably still headed toward it. Climaxes are always climaxy.

WAIT!
What if you’re just the B story, and you’re going to help someone else at the end, so you’re really only there for parts 20-30% of the book/movie? Just a bit character who will save the hero at the end after the darkest hour?

Also, did you arc? Even villains should arc.

You do know how to arc, right? I strongly suspect that most of the broken people I know never arced, which explains a lot. If you would just arc, you’ll finish your book, you writers. The lie that writers believe: Writer’s block. The arc: Overcoming it to publish a critically acclaimed best seller and have Steve King texting you for tips on his next novel. Climax: Beta readers all are bitten to become zombies, you get no feedback, and at the last moment an editor you met through a blog comes through and developmentally fixes your messy manuscript.

Don’t worry about the zombie apocalypse thing. You managed to get your book published, even if civilization is in the toilet. The End.