Amazing Antagonists Online Seminar May 12

April 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Exciting, complex antagonists are an important counterpoint to terrific protagonists.  Too often, the antagonist of a book falls flat, and the protagonist then loses traction, causing an unbalanced and unfulfilling story.

Author Devon Ellington teaches a one-day online, craft-based seminar, “Amazing Antagonists” on Saturday, May 12, 2012.  The class, aimed towards fiction writers at all stages of their careers, combines lectures, interactive Q&A time, posting snippets of scenes-in-progress for guidance, and a wealth of exercises and resource materials, including a PDF ebook at the end of class.  Topics covered will include identifying what makes an antagonist interesting and frightening; matching the antagonist to the protagonist; creating a complex individual instead of a cipher; believable backstory without psychobabble justifications; experimenting with both protagonist and antagonist in unusual situations to explore their depths; raising the stakes and more.

The class is on Saturday, May 12, and is only $20.  Paid participants receive the site link for registration, and, the night before the course, the password for the seminar forum board.  The seminar takes place online, on a forum board, with each topic in its own thread, and additional threads for general questions and snippets of works-in-progress. Participants can then hop on-and-off-line during the day as it suits them, to read lectures, ask questions, and post snippets of their work on which they want guidance.  Ellington will be online continuously from 1 - 4 PM EST, answering questions as they are posted.  She will answer questions frequently outside those hours during the day, too.  Sunday, the 15th, participants can still visit the forum, and Ellington will be on and off the forum during the day before 4 PM EST to answer any final questions.  The e-book is emailed to participants the week after the seminar.

“The antagonist is one of the most important elements of a captivating story, regardless of genre,” says Ellington.  “When the antagonist falls flat, it weakens the protagonist, and makes the entire piece fail.  Creating a good match makes the piece more interesting for writer and reader.”

The one-day seminar format serves students who want to improve their skills in this element of writing, but can’t commit or aren’t sure if they can handle a workshop that runs a month or more.  Participants just have to show up online on the day of the seminar, and then will have a treasure trove of information they can take with them to work on at their own pace.

For more information and registration, visit:  http://www.devonellingtonwork.com/11.html.


Devon Ellington is a full-time writer, publishing under a half a dozen names in both fiction and non-fiction.  The urban fantasy HEX BREAKER, the re-launch of the Jain Lazarus Adventures, is an upcoming release by Solstice Publishing.  Her work appears in numerous anthologies including PERFECTLY PLUM!  ARDEUR, GHOST STORIES OF THE MOGOLLON RIM, and FULL CIRCLE.  Under the Annabel Aidan name, her paranormal romantic suspense ASSUMPTION OF RIGHT was released by Champagne Books, receiving 4 out of 5 books from Long & Short Romance Reviews, and named “a hot book for a cold Cape Cod night” by the CAPE COD TIMES.  Her plays are produced in New York, London, Edinburgh, and Australia.  She teaches writing workshops online and in-person throughout the world.  For more information visit her websites Devon Ellington Work (www.devonellingtonwork.com), The Jain Lazarus Adventures (http://hexbreaker.devonellingtonwork.com) and her blog on the writing life, Ink in My Coffee (http://devonellington.wordpress.com).