The Greeks had a good confabulation for this: agon. Its whereabouts we get protagonist and enemy from. Essentially, what they realized was that the real center of drama was conflict. You may remember this series of conflicts from your high school literature class:
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Himself
Man vs. Society
Although very simpleand we recognize that Man vs. Himself is not a satisfactory way to describe Hamletthis list effectively shows us that stories are about different kinds of conflicts. And, if you think about the books that most moved or influenced you, youll realize that they are all centered around a conflict.
Do not think about your story in a Man vs. Man way if your detective protagonist is matching wits with a serial killer. Do use this kind of conflict to understand that it is really about how the character is revealed through the conflict.
