I've always wondered that because my friend is writing a story and it really doesn't call for an antagonist such as a villian. Since its a romance that takes place in the 18th century between two aspiring pianists. it talks about their hardships and trials to get to where they are in a 10 year journey between them. Its suppose to show the real side of what romance and life can really be, simplistic yet complicated. So should she make a character to fill that position of leave it?
Of course you can have an idea as an antagonist! There's a myriad of different types of conflicts that all are pointers to what kind of antagonist you'll have.
For example, man versus man [as in human, not necessarily male] is pretty frank. Brave Hero versus Evil Villain.
Man versus self [or "man versus nature"] is probably the conflict you have here. This is the character versus an "idea" as you put it; man has to overcome the self and human nature to accomplish their ultimate goal.
There's a bunch of others that I'm too lazy to remember right now. Ask any English teacher; he or she should be able to help you a bit more.
[or maybe some nice passing person will clarify my description?]
-:pirate3:
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I agree with the above posts. Your antagonist doesn't have to be concrete, sometimes ideas, settings, and even the who you thought to be a protagonist can all be the villain. ^^
Conflict can be summed up as falling into one of three categories:
1. External conflict (conflict with outside forces: environment, technology, culture, society, even time)
2. Internal conflict (conflict with self)
3. Interpersonal conflict (against individuals)
Your antagonist, an "idea", seems to fit in with the first category. However, in many cases all three types of conflict exist in some way. So while you may wish to have an abstract concept as the central problem, you should also include elements of internal and interpersonal conflict to personalise and humanise your protagonist's tribulations.
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." William Faulkner.
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yes, ideas do make good antagonists...however, if you want to have a pure idea as the villain, then do so skillfully or the story emerges as void of any conflict (the reader might not see it). if this is your first time doing such writing, i would recommend attaching the idea to a physical being, like a person who tries to get in the way of the romance specifically because of that idea. it makes the story flow easier.
like an above poster said, having the "Beast" represent human evil is better than just having human evil floating around.
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