Hello, I was writing a war fic (not sure if that's an actual genre but I will henceforth treat it as one), and I had made a decision, that I didn't want to have a main character or a single main villain. Anyone here have any advice to keep from giving any one character too much spotlight...?
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Writing Without Protagonist/Villain
- Thread starter Mane
- Start date
Venia Silente
[](int x){return x;}
One alternative could be writing it as a war chronicle. There's no single or direct protagonist / villain (just like in real life, mind), but rather a succession of events and perspectives of them. And as with any war, playing with perspectives is important. The one character or two that in today's chapters appear garrisoned near a hospital shooting down opposition coming down the street, in a racconto next chapter can be seen as the hospital and their refugees' last-resort defense against a direct biological attack.
Where possible don't portray people in command, or people giving orders, but rather portray a chain of command. An order comes and the officer has to make sure their subordinates get the message as clear as possible, at the same time hoping to verify that this order is legit.
To make sure no single character gets to be perceived as a hero (or villain), ensure that victories and advancements are something that takes a lot of time, and a relevant group effort. Even more importantly perhaps, show (don't tell) that any gained ground can be lost as easily as the wind turns (unless the war is approaching its end).
However, without more information about the story itself I don't think I could offer any better, less generic advice.
Where possible don't portray people in command, or people giving orders, but rather portray a chain of command. An order comes and the officer has to make sure their subordinates get the message as clear as possible, at the same time hoping to verify that this order is legit.
To make sure no single character gets to be perceived as a hero (or villain), ensure that victories and advancements are something that takes a lot of time, and a relevant group effort. Even more importantly perhaps, show (don't tell) that any gained ground can be lost as easily as the wind turns (unless the war is approaching its end).
However, without more information about the story itself I don't think I could offer any better, less generic advice.
Alright, I can provide specifics, no problem. (Wow that was fast)
The general gist is that it's a Pokemon fanfiction set in a medieval setting where the entire continent is enraptured in a complicated war between nine nations.
Was going to post link in case the first paragraph or so would have been more useful, but then I just decided to put it here. Warning: lots of text under spoiler tag.
The general gist is that it's a Pokemon fanfiction set in a medieval setting where the entire continent is enraptured in a complicated war between nine nations.
Was going to post link in case the first paragraph or so would have been more useful, but then I just decided to put it here. Warning: lots of text under spoiler tag.
A long time ago, this world had eleven great, powerful nations, each of which overlooked by one of the nearly omnipotent creatures known as legends. For the most part, barring occasional skirmishes, they were peaceful. That peace, however, would not last. For the last five hundred years, a great war has scarred the land, claiming thousands of lives and killing all but a select few legends, even three of those with nations. This, you see, is where our story begins.
The world as we know it harbors a single giant continent floating in a vast sea. That continent, Iriyen, is populated by mystical creatures known as Pokemon. The continent is divided like so:
Twin mountain ranges form a shallow but wide semicircle across it, starting in the west and east coast and meeting near the northern tip of the continent.
The western half is the kingdom of Highland, ruled by King Jall and Queen Emslala, and looked over by the mighty dragon Rayquaza. The eastern half of the range, on the other hand, is territory of the Kingdom of Flames, home to king and queen Blaze and Kyubi, and watched by the great phoenix, Ho-oh. Below the middle ground between them and near the center is a great forest, inside of which the Nature Tribe can be found. It is ruled over by Axel and Isabel, and Celebi serves as its guardian.
The northernmost tip, Iceland, is a cold and hostile place created and watched by Articuno where few can survive. Those that do are under the jurisdiction of queen Mist and her husband Darah.
On the opposite side of the continent is a great valley in which the Cavern Dwellers, whose rulers are named Ranoda and Tiereaux, live and pray for the awakening of their protector: Groudon.
To the west, the Wasteland Kingdom watches the rest of the world from the other side of the vast and infamous Desert of Death, enviously awaiting the order from either King Meridan, Queen Azundere, or Zekrom, to invade and conquer a fertile land.
On the other side of that spectrum is Dread Isle, a plateau overlooking the very easternmost edge of the world, which is full of scum and villainy, exceptions not being made by the king Bruteas, the legend Darkrai, or even the queen Zezza.
Next-to-lastly, tucked away behind Highland is an isolated area called the Land of Truth, over which Guile the king and Alice the queen have dominion. This is the home of Mew.
And lastly, there is Atlantis, a massive underwater sea off the southeast coast with colonies just about all over the shoreline. Its king Clovis died, leaving the queen, Lilu, with much on her plate. The city itself is under the watch of Kyogre.
The world as we know it harbors a single giant continent floating in a vast sea. That continent, Iriyen, is populated by mystical creatures known as Pokemon. The continent is divided like so:
Twin mountain ranges form a shallow but wide semicircle across it, starting in the west and east coast and meeting near the northern tip of the continent.
The western half is the kingdom of Highland, ruled by King Jall and Queen Emslala, and looked over by the mighty dragon Rayquaza. The eastern half of the range, on the other hand, is territory of the Kingdom of Flames, home to king and queen Blaze and Kyubi, and watched by the great phoenix, Ho-oh. Below the middle ground between them and near the center is a great forest, inside of which the Nature Tribe can be found. It is ruled over by Axel and Isabel, and Celebi serves as its guardian.
The northernmost tip, Iceland, is a cold and hostile place created and watched by Articuno where few can survive. Those that do are under the jurisdiction of queen Mist and her husband Darah.
On the opposite side of the continent is a great valley in which the Cavern Dwellers, whose rulers are named Ranoda and Tiereaux, live and pray for the awakening of their protector: Groudon.
To the west, the Wasteland Kingdom watches the rest of the world from the other side of the vast and infamous Desert of Death, enviously awaiting the order from either King Meridan, Queen Azundere, or Zekrom, to invade and conquer a fertile land.
On the other side of that spectrum is Dread Isle, a plateau overlooking the very easternmost edge of the world, which is full of scum and villainy, exceptions not being made by the king Bruteas, the legend Darkrai, or even the queen Zezza.
Next-to-lastly, tucked away behind Highland is an isolated area called the Land of Truth, over which Guile the king and Alice the queen have dominion. This is the home of Mew.
And lastly, there is Atlantis, a massive underwater sea off the southeast coast with colonies just about all over the shoreline. Its king Clovis died, leaving the queen, Lilu, with much on her plate. The city itself is under the watch of Kyogre.
Spiteful Murkrow
Early Game Encounter
It depends what you're looking for for a "protagonist". It's generally pretty hard to do any narrative beyond something that slots into "pure world-building" (e.x. a history text, a description of geography, or just the way things are) without having *someone* to focus on, which is the strictest definition of a protagonist. It's quite a bit easier to write a story with a protagonist but no villain, though, which might be a bit closer to what you're looking for, since the protagonist (ideally) still keeps events relatable / non-disembodied for the viewer. (See every Slice of Life work ever.)
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