More on Villains

This month we are discussing villains. The trick-or-treater above seems harmless enough, even kind of cute, but what if this isn't your child following you home after a night of collecting candy? Who is it? What will he do? Let your imagination take over and write the story.

Villains are your antagonist. They are whoever or whatever keeps you from your happily ever after. The villain could be an abusive husband like the one in the movie Enough with Jennifer Lopez, or a monster as threatening as the evil vampires in Twilight. You could be your own villain if you have split personalities just as the character played by Sally Field did in Sybil or the character plagued by mental illness in A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe. The villain doesn't have to be human or even a monster; it could be a storm such as the tornadoes in the movie Twister. The villain could also be big industry dumping harmful chemicals similar to the one in the movie Erin Brockovich.

Sometimes villain are based on true stories and sometimes they are a figment of the imagination. In either case, they should be powerful. Our hero and heroine must fear them before they fight and conquer. When you are creating your next villain, look deep inside to what scares you, what really, really scares you.

Until next week,
happy writing!

Tina Swayzee McCright

Villains

This month we are going to talk about writing villains. You don't want them to be the typical bad guy who is simply evil. Your villain is the hero of his own story. He needs to have his own layers as a character, his own strengths and weaknesses, his own hates and loves. Why is he/she evil? Were they always bad or did someone push them over the edge? Does everyone see this character as evil? Your villain needs to have character development as strong as your hero to make the story more interesting.