I think I’ve been having trouble getting my book off the ground, writing the characters, because I have been writing the villain as the heroine and the heroine as the villain. At first I thought I was just out of practice writing a good villain. So, as I was in the shower and had nothing else to do, I began plotting my villain.
As the list took shape I began to think of who my heroine is in comparison. What makes each of them tick. The heroine began to sound like a spoiled self centred brat. There she is going after what she wants as if that was all that mattered in the world. Meanwhile, my villain merely wants to take over the world, in order to make it a better place, of course.
Tonight I have been looking at how to write a villain. Seeing what comes up online out of curiousity.
The Romance Club has an article: Writing the Effective Villain. I also liked WikiHow’s article How to Create a Credible Villain in Fiction. You can also read Creating a Villain Worthy of your Hero.
The points I’m taking away from this excursion into writing a villain are:
- Give a cause, a reason for the character to become a villain. What was the turning point? What trauma changed the character from an ordinary person into one who chooses to be wicked?
- Keep them human, give them some good points. Maybe they do wicked things but still look after their aging parents. Or maybe your villain just loves her garden in between crushing the little brat of a heroine.Even something small that they take pleasure in and do without expecting something in return or thoughts of revenge.
- How does the heroine fit into the villain’s evil doings/ wicked plots? How do they influence each other? What makes one the heroine and the other the villain: how are they the same and how are they different?
- Does your villain come to a tragic end or just continue on somewhat changed or are they fully redeemed by the end of the story?
When I’m good I’m very, very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better. – Mae West
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Writing a villain is harder than it looks! Thanks for linking to Writing Forward
I am in the process of crafting a villian right now. Thanks for the great tips! They’re definitly points of reference for me now and I’ll be looking back at them when I need some help. Awesome article!