So often when we think of a novel’s main characters, we zero in on the hero and heroine. That is all well and good, after all, what is a romance without a hero and heroine? And every story, no matter what genre, needs a protagonist – a good guy or gal, someone the reader is rooting for. But in your zeal to craft a compelling hero and/or heroine, don’t forget to ask yourself: Who is the villain of this story? What: A villain is the antagonist of your story. When you think villain, don’t just think danger, think threat. Or opposition. A villain can be a person. Hans Gruber, the lead terrorist in Die Hard, goes down in my book as the archetype villain. A twist on the […]
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Brainstorming Strategy # 2: Villains
Have you ever known someone who would put you down in any way that they could? Then you have met with a villain. It is easy to think that a villain is just for suspense or thriller type novels, but they are a great source of conflict in all genres. To figure out the best type of villain for your novel, start with figuring out the end of the book goal for your characters. These would be things like love, safety, freedom, security, etc. Then look for the type villain that would make reaching that goal difficult. Also, at this preliminary stage you should consider the competence of the character, or what they are especially good at. You want the villain to oppose this as well. Romantic Suspense: *Sarah is […]
Read the Rest. . . And your little dog, too!
Today we’re looking at part two of writing a scary, believable villain. For a villain to be great, his or her threats must be believable and truly scary. The threat has to hit home. In the Wizard of Oz, we’re afraid for Dorothy and her friends, but when the witch threatens Toto, we’re drawn all the way into the danger. “She’s going to hurt an innocent dog?” We see Dorothy’s response too. Not Toto! As you develop your villain or antagonist, create a scenario that’s real and hits home. Could it happen? And what if it did? Work on thinking outside the norm, too. Terrorist blowing up a city while Bruce Willis tries to save mankind is exciting and perhaps interesting, but I’m not really drawn in because the threat […]
Read the RestWhy pick on me?
I had a grade school villain. Her name was Karla, and she, like most bullies, had been held back a year in school and seemed as if they came out of the womb fully grown. She had a gang – her little brother and a few other cling-ons who were fed by her power, and she owned the swings. I loved to swing. Especially the old kind of swings that hang from chains. In our playground, we could tie one of the set of three to the side, and then play a game with the other two – the one in the middle would swing in a circle, gathering momentum and at the exact right moment, the other “swinger” would position themselves in the middle and the two […]
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