First of, this is my first post, and I would like to say how excited I am to be apart of an emerging writing community!
As for what I need help on:
For the novel I am currently writing, the setting is a rural kingdom with a blend of ancient European and Native American elements. The villains are a group of giant bloodthirsty bugs that live in a hivemind controlled by a main queen. My protagonists, a ragtag team of four teenagers from different regions of the kingdom with varying skillsets, decide to go off and destroy the bug queen. The queen herself symbolizes tyranny, which parallels the main protagonist's quest of learning to become a good leader. Aside from that, the only other thing these bugs do is present physical obstacles for my protagonists to overcome.
At first I was thinking this made my story weak by having weak antagonists, but I wanted more focus to be on the individual characters, what they are going through, and how they play off each other. In a way, each of the four protagonist is their own villain, as they try to become better people. Would this be enough to compensate for the lackluster villains, or would this make for a boring read?
(I'm also new here so hey, I too am also working on a novel.)
I'm no professional but I would say you do indeed have a "weak" antagonist. The way you have described them they do seem to be almost like a mindless horde. While that isn't a bad thing they do read more like an impending doom than an actual adversary. As for your protagonists if they all want to be leaders then they need followers. Perhaps another obstacle could be gaining followers or managing them. All this still aligning with the goal to stop the queen. (Again i'm no professional, but one thing i've learned is not to be afraid to simply change or get rid of characters if they don't seem to fit. Also don't be afraid to change the narrative to fit the characters. Hope to see more of you on here!)
Thank you so much for your advice! Good luck on your own novel!
Hi! Another newbie here.
At the moment, I do agree that your enemy is a bit "weak" and is acting as more of a backdrop for your characters, but here are some questions that might help make the bugs less of a "weak" villain. You said the queen represents tyranny. Is there a reason for that? What threat do the bugs pose and what is the reason behind it? (What is their motivation?) Do any of the characters have a personal connection to/vendetta against the bugs? Are the bugs mindless creatures or are they intelligent? How are your characters planning to defeat the bugs? Do they have help from other people?
Maybe another roadblock your characters could face is figuring out how to work together as a team and get along. It would be kinda strange if these four magically compatible characters show up and they all conveniently want to destroy the bugs. Do the characters have their own personal motivations for wanting to get rid of the bugs? That could help with character development and/or compatibility. Internal conflict could make the plot more engaging.
These are just some of my suggestions, feel free to take them or ignore them as you see fit. I think your idea is very interesting and has lots of potential. Good luck with your story!
