know your enemy (antagonists)
May 22, 2008 at 2:53 pm (characters) (antagonist, antagonists, author, book, books, character, character development, characterization, characters, creative writing, fantasy, fantasy novel, fiction, hero, heroes, novel, novels, protagonist, protagonists, stories, story, villain, villains, writer, writing, writing a book, writing books, writing characters, writing fiction)
There comes a time when a writer has to stop their story, turn and look at their villain, and admit that they’re phoning it in on the antagonists’ performances. I simply have not given any of my (multiple) villains the treatment that I’ve given my two main heroes. I don’t know what they’re doing while I’m focusing on my heroes. I don’t know their subplots. I don’t know what problems they’ve been going through behind the scenes.
So far I have four villains to counter my two heroes: A king, a lord, a winged bully, and a high-ranking slave. I’ve managed so far, but I just invented the last on the list (Sorche du Remerdii, the man who gave that cheeky line I mentioned here), and in a high-tension scene he feels flat.
Lesson learned: know your villains. I’ve decided that June is going to be ‘Villain Month’. Each week will be dedicated to developing and writing side-stories about one of my villains. That way I’ll be ready for my second rewrite, and I’ll be posting up character exercises, collages, and notes on development. I’ll also be exploring the extent of their power, what they can and can not do to the heroes, and why.
No flat enemies allowed.
moonbeamwalker said,
May 22, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I like your approach. I adore villains – mean, nasty, ones or even better beautiful ones that bomb our fantasy world apart.
http://moonbeamwalker.wordpress.com/
elizaw said,
May 22, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Thank you! I’m determined to do everyone in this book justice… especially the bad guys. Otherwise there’s no contrast between them and the heroes, and I’m a big tension/plotting junkie.
Your blog looks really interesting– I’m going to go check that out. Thank you for commenting!
Anonymous said,
May 22, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Thumbs up for in-depth-villains. I myself love to play with the idea that there are neither absolute villains nor absolute heroes in my novel, but whichever way you choose, the deeper the characters are, the deeper the story will be. Good luck with the first draft
nymeria87 said,
May 22, 2008 at 5:15 pm
That was me by the way, sorry about that, didn’t realize I wasn’t logged in…ops
Saint Know-All said,
May 22, 2008 at 6:23 pm
There’s a reason why everyone loves Darth Vader.
“Each week will be dedicated to developing and writing side-stories about one of my villains.” What could be really interesting is if the villain becomes a hero for one of the side-stories. I’ve tried that before and found it creates a perspective and depth previously missing.
elizaw said,
May 22, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Well, everyone thinks that they’re the hero anyway. It’ll be interesting, any way I go about it.
brigidkeely said,
May 26, 2008 at 9:28 am
I look forward to reading these.
A Month of Villainy « Writing Frenzy said,
May 27, 2008 at 6:37 pm
[...] , villains , writing The month of June has been declared ‘Villain Month’ by elizaw. This sounds like the perfect way to kick start the writing process. Developing characters is by [...]
Linda said,
May 30, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Good idea to develop our villains. I’m trying to work on giving them more depth–one is a main character so has to be as complex as the main character, the other is more background. It is harder for me to develop those that aren’t so prominent in the story.
elizaw said,
May 30, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Linda: Hello and welcome!
I’ve actually opened up ‘Villain Month’ as a group effort: I’m getting close to roping a dozen writers into it– are you interested in joining?