What is your opinion on oppositions when the story is dealing with a government conspiracy? Who should the antagonist be? Should it be characters that betray the lead through out the story? Should there be a main character that is against everything the lead stands for or both? What do you think?
I'm not sure. If you're dealing with a government conspiracy, shouldn't the antagonist be someone who works for the government? Maybe a police officer or detective? I don't think there should be a character who's totally opposite to the main character. Everyone is human, make the characters similar, not different. That will make it easier to identify with them.
If your going to base your whole story around 'so there's a government conspiracy, what next' it won't be very good.
I think the antagonist is whomever you decide that it is. You typically decide who the characters are. Certain works do not require certain characters. What makes sense in relation to your protagonist? I think what that Fantasy of You means is that the conspiracy usually has to have some point. You haven't given us much plot yet, and he's just saying that it is currently very limited. So, you have to ask yourself, why is there a conspiracy by the government? Once you know why there is a conspiracy, you'll know who is in a position to discover and expose it and why someone would want to stop that person.
umm....i was sort of wandering through this post....and i'd maybe offer that i've seen two very very generic flavors of plots. bear in mind, i'm really just wandering through and i probably don't make any sense...it's late and i feel like rambling -character driven: who dictates what happens. who a guy is, what matters to him, where is lives, how/who he loves ---how to screw over such a guy could give you a story but we'd read it cause we care about the dude first and foremost. (i think it was coma (?) by a woman by the name of cook- read it years ago) -plot driven: you have a clear idea. a <bleeping> clever idea about some fresh way to turn over the 'government is out to get me' concept. characters become tools to advance that clever idea---guys are simply tools sacrificed for a higher power (see da vinci code) hopefully some of this makes sense good luck- me, i can only do flavor 1....just seldom ever have clever plot ideas ennubi
Or you could do the opposite (which is what I would do) and have the protagonists as the ones working for the government to uphold the conspiracy. I know how that at first sounds illogical as a workable idea, but it's quite an original story idea if told from a different point of view. Governments sometimes have to conspire against its own citizens to protect them from something they shouldn't know for reasons of national security. What that 'thing' is is up to you. Not all antagonists have to be 'evil' to be antagonists but simply, and obviously, the opposite. So I can't see why everyday citizens can't be characterised as the antagonists if there is moral justification for any government agents to fight to keep a secret a secret (or conspiracy). There's many options for you to explore before you begin to write.
It's limited because I didn't want to give too much away. The story is about the future of health. Taking place around 2027, where disease and illness has plagued the country. The conspiracy is that, there are natural cures for virtually every disease but they are being suppressed by the FDA, AMA, drug companies, the media, and government agencies all for money, power, and control. The plot is typical. A young man (with a hard past) develops a severe heart problem that almost kills him. He is told by doctors that he was born with a deformed heart which would cause him major problems for the rest of his life. He has no choice but to undergo surgery and experimental drugs. In the future, doctors can override patient’s medical wishes etc. He discovers the truth and does everything he can to help expose it but first, he meets someone in the hospital that will help him escape. etc. The country will be under mass surveillance (because of terrorists and all that) and the country will somewhat be under a police state. I haven't figured out how severe I want to make it yet. But that is the basic premise.
I like this idea. What stands out for me the most is the character's motivational arc to reveal and crush the conspiracy but is in a dilemma because at the same time he desperately relies on the revolutionary pioneering surgery by these conspirators to survive. It begs some questions: what choices will he make? Will he temporarily suppress the conspiracy for his own gain - which thus makes him just as morally corrupt -, or does he withhold it to reveal the conspiracy risking his own life in the process for the greater good? That's an excellent dilemma to put a character through and that will show through in the writing.
