text: # Happy Saturday, serialists! Welcome to Serial Saturday! \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ***New here?*** If you’re brand new to and thinking about participating in Serial Saturday, welcome! Feel free to dip your toes in by writing for this challenge or any others we have listed on the handy dandy ! We appreciate all contributions made to this thread, and all submissions are of course welcomed, whether it addresses a previous challenge or the current one. All submissions are of course welcomed. We hope you enjoy your time in the community! Take a look at our inaugural Serial Saturday post for some helpful tips. You don’t need to catch up by writing for each of the previous assignments, feel free to jump right in wherever fits for you, with whatever assignment or theme fits for you, and post it on the current thread with a link to whichever previously posted challenge you chose to start with. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ # This week it’s all about Enemies. Let’s talk about enemies. An antagonist or enemy is . It’s what divides your protagonist from what they want at the same time as driving forward the story. Enemies have goals, wants and needs just like protagonists, and figuring out what they’re after can be just as important as figuring out what a protagonist is after. A compelling story uses the antagonist to connect conflict to the overarching theme. Antagonists or enemies don’t have to take center stage in a story, but they should give a protagonist a reason to continue towards their own goals. An important thing to keep in mind is that the most compelling adversarial characters have their own motives, morals and beliefs. In their own POV . Enemies can come in a lot of forms, and your ‘enemy’ character approach may depend on the genre of story you’re writing. Is the enemy an asteroid barreling toward earth or Mother Nature, and the scourge of winter, or the ever-widening path of a furious wildfire? Maybe it’s just a sweet old lady who can’t remember to keep her overprotective, . Sometimes the scariest enemies are the ones we can’t identify. Serial killers leave calling cards or “signatures” but we may never find out who they are. Shadow puppet masters send henchmen while we never see The Big Bad’s face. Even though we can’t *see* those baddies doesn’t mean we shouldn’t feel their effects on the protagonist, or the world around them. Inherent emotional investment makes friends vrs friends super tasty, and give us a meaningful reason to empathize with a story. In this challenge you do not have to introduce a whole new character on the outset; you can take this time to allude to the forces at work against your main character without ever showing a new face, but we should be able to identify as an audience what your protagonist is up against. Things to think about for this assignment: Who is the enemy of your main character? What do they want? Can the main character be ‘their own worst enemy’? Are you writing an antagonist that fits the world they’re in? What kind of environmental factors influence your antagonist? What influence does your antagonist have on their environment? **\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*** **You have until \*next\* Saturday, 9/5, to submit and comment on everyone else's stories here. Make sure to check back on this thread periodically to lay some sweet, sweet crit down on those who don't have any yet!** \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* # Top picks from last week’s assignment, The Calm Before The Storm: **Fan favorite with the most votes:** /u/Ryter99, . This week the **Smoking Hot Challenge Sash** goes to an author that nailed the spirit of the assignment: /u/JohnGarrigan, And honorable mentions: /u/Mazinjaz, . /u/Errorwrites, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **The Rules:** * In the comments below submit a story that is between **500 - 750** words in your own original universe. * Submissions are limited to ***one*** serial submission from each author per week. * **Each author should comment on at least 2 other stories** during the course of the week. * That comment must include ***at least one*** **detail** about what the author has done well. * Authors who successfully finish a serial lasting longer than 8 installments will be featured with a modpost recognizing their completion and a flair banner on the sub. * Authors are eligible for this highlight post only if they have followed the 2 feedback comments per thread rule. *Yes, we will check*. * While content rules are more lax here at /r/ShortStories, we’re going to roll with the loose guidelines of "vaguely family friendly" being the rule of thumb for now. If you’re ever unsure if your story would cross the line, feel free to modmail! \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Reminders: * Make sure your post on this thread also includes links to your previous installments if you have a currently in-progress serial. Those links must be direct links to the previous installment on the preceding Serial Saturday post or to your own subreddit/profile. * Authors that complete a serial with 8 or more installments get a fancy banner and modpost to highlight their stories. * Saturdays we will be hosting a Serials Campfire on the main voice lounge. Join us to read your story aloud, hear other stories, and share your own thoughts on serial writing! We start on Saturdays at 9AM CST. **Don’t worry about being late, just join!** There’s a *Super Serial* role on the Discord server, so make sure you grab that so you’re notified of all Serial Saturday related news! **Join the** **to chat with prompters, authors, and readers!** Previous constraint: Have you seen the ? No? Oh boy! Here's the current cycle's challenge schedule.