Plot is people. Human emotions and desires  founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there is an explosion–that’s Plot. ~ Leigh Brackett

Your protagonist and antagonist will always have opposing agendas. The clearer your characters’ agendas, the more readers will understand why they do what they do.tia

One of the clearest and scariest examples is found in Stephen King’s gruesome tale, Misery. The horror thriller  begins when Paul Sheldon, a bestselling author, is injured in a car accident in the midst of a snowstorm. Which is where Annie Wilkes, his number one fan, enters the picture. She’s rescued him and when he regains consciousness in her isolated home in the Colorado Rockies, he finds her tending his shattered body.

But soon gratitude is replaced by worry, and then by terror and desperation. Problems arrive when Annie learns that Sheldon is about to end his series featuring Misery Chastain. Wilkes, a former nurse, in possession of a surprising array of pharmaceuticals,  is having none of it. She demands that he write a new novel, resurrecting her favorite character. And she’ll do anything to make sure he finishes the novel. Anything.

Oh, and secondary characters need agendas too.  Even sidekicks and best friends can be at odds with the protagonist’s goals.  Or keeping a secret. Or secretly in love with the antagonist.

Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart