Comments on: Building a Villain

By: N.J. Walters

N.J. Walters — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:43:25 +0000

I always have to reign myself back or my villians are over the top…or should I say, my editor reigns me back. *g* God bless her!

By: Shelley Munro

Shelley Munro — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:05:28 +0000

Estella - I hear you. All we readers ever need are great, well-written characters we can believe in.

Lucinda - great I look forward to reading your first suspense.

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:53:37 +0000

I’m glad you posted this, because I’m writing my first suspense. Good info.

By: Estella

Estella — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:05:59 +0000

I don’t have a preference about villians—they just need to be well written.

By: Shelley Munro

Shelley Munro — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:19:50 +0000

I’m glad my post helped, Tempest.

By: Tempest Knight

Tempest Knight — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:46:52 +0000

You know, I was reading a chapter on villains recently. This post of yours adds a new dimension to what the author of the book was saying. Thanks for posting this! Gives me something to think about. ;)

By: Shelley Munro

Shelley Munro — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:16:51 +0000

Good point, Amy, about the villain not believing he’s bad. That goes back to motivation as well. We give him a good reason for behaving in the way he does and make him believe in what he’s doing.

Great, Paige. I’ll come and visit

Thanks, Wylie. Yes, I think that’s particularly so in aspiring author books - OTT villains. Actually, not just villains but other characters, too. I’ve heard all of you mention Dexter. No, we don’t get Dexter down here. Is he on DVD?

By: Wylie

Wylie — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:52:26 +0000

Great post, Shelley. My pet peeve is when I read about a villain who is ridiculously OTT. Then I find him/her laughable and can’t buy into the story. You’re absolutely correct when you say that a villain should have good points as well. Heck, how could they get through life to this point if they were just THAT EVIL?!
One of my fave villain/hero’s these days is Dexter. Have you seen the show? It absolutely amazes me that the writers could turn a serial killer into a sympathetic hero. Excellent example of seeing a character from both sides.

By: Paige Tyler

Paige Tyler — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:05:13 +0000

I did your tag!

*hugs*
Paige

By: Amy Gallow

Amy Gallow — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:39:20 +0000

No villian believes themselves to be a villian, they just see the world from a different angle to the hero/heroine (whom they would describe as villians).

A good(?) villian is often heroic in their own light.

One of mine was a little hard of hearing and thought the rest of the world whispered disparaging things about him, just out of hearing. He performed several heroic feats, turning them to dross by his simmering resentment of the world.