Fiction Notes » villain

The Other Side of the Story

Darcy Pattison — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:41:17 +0000

In our continuing quest to write 750 words a day, today, we will think like our opposites. Our enemies.

Drawing of the TinTin Villain

There is always two sides to a story and to Think Like a Writer, we need to explore the full emotional depth of our story or novel.

Today, write a scene from a character who represents the opposite side, the opposite take on things, the opposite point of view. Generally, this will mean your villain or your antagonist.

Read this three part series about villains:

Now, write 750 words explaining your villain’s point of view, exploring their backstory, understanding the whys and wherefors of this fella.

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Try Ideas

Darcy Pattison — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:00:57 +0000

You Must Try it On

I’m watching “What Not to Wear,” TLC’s fashion advice show. The hosts, Stacy and Clinton preach one thing that struck me today: you must try clothes on to see if they fit and look the way you want. You can’t tell anything by just looking at something on a hanger. You must see it on your body.

Revising a novel can be like that, too. I’m facing a major change in my story and I’m just fiddling with ideas. Instead, I need to “try it on” and do some sample writing, trying out the ideas.

In this draft of my novel, the villain is not believable in important ways. I need to soften him, yet still keep the impact of his actions emotionally the same. The problem is that I can’t figure out how to replace his evil ways with something equally evil or deceptive or twisted or, well, something. This will directly change the climax of an important subplot, which feeds into the story’s main climax.

I’ve been making lists and have a couple options of what is plausible, what is not, given these characters and situation. Now, I need to do “try them on” my story. I plan to do some free-writing, trying out different approaches until something hits.

One thing is guaranteed: it won’t be the first thing I try. I’m just hoping it’ll be the third or fourth!

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Plot: Characters v. Patterns

Darcy Pattison — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:18:37 +0000

Plot: 9 Ways of Looking at Plot

I’ve been thinking about plot and looking through my library of writing books to see the big picture of how plot is discussed and taught, how writers approach plot. It seems to me that the discussions fall into about 9 camps.

1. Plot equals character. This camp says that the characters and their problems will move the story. If you know your characters well enough, they will get into and out of scraps and fights and interesting problems. Usually, but not always, this is accompanied with the encouragement to just start writing and see where the character takes you.

It seems to me that people who successfully write this way have a deeply ingrained, unconsciously competent, intuitive grasp of a story arc that includes a character facing his deepest fears and growing or changing some way as a result. As they write, they try to align the character with this inner sense of character. In Jack Bickham’s book, Scene & Structure, one appendix is of a Master Plot, detailing one particular way to conceive of the plot structure; authors who begin with character have an internal Master Plot of character.

Those who are unsuccessful at this approach can create interesting characters who do interesting things, but they don’t key in to the deepest fears, don’t make the character suffer and change and grow.

Other readings about starting with character:

2. Plot is a branching structure. If you start with a single statement, you can split it to two statements, and split that to four and that to eight and so on. Examples of proponents of this method are the Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method, and How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey.

Basically, you start with the Deep Theme (Snowflake) or Premise (Frey) which could describe the entire novel in a single sentence. Then you develop it by making it two (or three) sentences. Then each of those is divided into several sentences, 4-6 sentences. And so on.

The key to this is knowing, rather than discovering, the deep theme or premise. Some people start from the thinnest of threads and need those exploratory drafts to find out about character and theme. If you fall into this camp, then use Snowflaking as a revision strategy, instead of a first draft strategy.

More reading:

If you like structured steps, or you want support for your first time plotting, you may like the Snowflake 10-step method.
Outline by Snowflaking

3. Universal Plots. Some say there are only two plots in the world: a stranger comes to town or a character goes on a journey. Ronald Tobias’ book 20 Master Plots discusses some of the major universal plot schemes and generally lays out a structure for each; most helpful is when he designates some as character plots and others as action-oriented plots. For example the difference in a Quest and an Adventure is whether you focus on the inner or outer plot.

Other books in this vein are the classic from June & William Noble, Steal this Plot.

Or look at this 1916 book, which expresses the same idea of universality of plot:

4. Plot Patterns. Plot is a series of events that present the character with increasingly difficult choices until at the climax the conflict is resolved. This is the basic narrative arc you learned in high school. It may be enough to analyze a story by, but I’ve rarely seen it successful in leading a writer through the convolutions of plot.

However, there are patterns of plot which would fit the general idea of a narrative arc. The Hero’s Journey (orginally from Joseph Campbell, but best presented for writers by Christopher Vogler in The Writer’s Journey) establishes steps a character must face: call to action, denial, crossing the threshold, enemies & allies, approach to the inmost cave, supreme ordeal, reward, the road back, resurrection, return with elixir. John Vorhaus proposed a similar idea with his Comic Throughline in The Comic Toolbox.

I find this type pattern helpful because it fills in the smaller details left out by the English teacher’s description of plot. The Hero’s Journey is open-ended and general enough to allow for flexibility, while still being specific enough to point the writer in a useful direction. In other words, the English teacher’s plot says that the character faces a series of obstacles before reaching a final climax. The Hero’s Journey describes what some specific obstacles will look like AND it sequences those obstacles into an ideal timeline.

Books Mentioned in This Series

Bickham, Jack. Scene & Structure
Noble, June & William. Steal this Plot.
Tobias, Ronald. 20 Master Plots
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey.
Vorhaus, John. The Comic Toolbox.

Websites Mentioned in This Series

Do you use one of these plot paradigms? Why that one?

Tomorrow: 4 more variations of plotting.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

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Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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Strengthen Your Villain

Darcy Pattison — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:37:37 +0000

Your villain can be strengthened in several ways. Wait. Do you HAVE a villain, don’t you?

Do you need a villain?

One question I often hear is, “Do I really need an antagonist/villain” Usually, these writers have the main character struggling against something like a storm, or an evil empire, or something more abstract. In these cases, no, you don’t have to have a villain; but if you can embody the evil from that abstract opposition in a character, you’ll have a stronger story.

Create a single storm or give the reader a military general to hate (think Darth Vader). Your story will be stronger with a strong antagonist, because it will focus the main character’s efforts. Let’s assume you have a good villain and in the next revision you want to strengthen your villain. In general, you’ll want to look at what you’ve already done and push it to a more intense level. Because villains are a different sort of character, there are some cliches that work when creating them. But be sure to work against these cliches and make your villain fresh and interesting.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE–Two options

1. UGLY Their ugliness outside mirrors their evil inner nature.

dirty–hands, clothes
eyes–pale, blue, cadaverous, sinister, stone cold, blazing, uncanny, narrow, oblique, filminess, sharp, strange, awful, flaming with passion, keen, piercing, dark, bold, brilliant, black
rank breath
voice–sharp, cruel, think, harsh, often breaks into falsetto
deformed in some way–hunchback, missing leg (Long John Silver), scars
fleshy or fat from over-indulgence of fleshly lusts
hands–short stocky fingers, fat/fleshy, large, white, ruthless, sharp nails, hair on palms
facial hair–queer whiskers, cruel mustache
bony
skin–sallow, sunburned almost black
physically strong–strong, but not intelligent
laugh–hyena-like, laughs at odd times

2. BEAUTIFUL Their outside contrasts with inner evil nature

movements–graceful, catlike
intelligent–a worthy foe
sexy
hero-like, often tries to imitate a hero, a king, a warrior of old, etc.
voice–melodious, husky, sexy
hair–thick, beautiful, long
clothes & accessories–splendidly horsed, impeccable taste in clothes,dashing appearance

CHARACTER QUALITIES

These are some character qualities to consider as you define your villain.

All villains must enjoy their villainy.
Cruel.
established by reputation of past crimes/past corpses
puts others in position to fail, then punishes when they do fail
revenge
no mercy
Treacherous–no loyalty. Insinuates into positions of trust, then betrays.
Cunning, sly, conniving
Bully–physical and mental abuse
Childhood–unstable, frustrated, unhappy, reform school
Charisma–mesmerizes the weak (often female)
Ruthless–gets own way regardless of what it takes
Frustrated ambitions
Shrewd business-like sense
Foul language

OTHER CHARACTERISTICS

Often foreigners or different ethnic group. (Not politically correct these days, of course, but still often done.)
Often wears black. (Another politically-incorrect notion, but color can be useful in designating groups. Could also use some other visual tag, for example, gang signs, tattoos, etc..)
Tools/House–Often these are sinister. In other words, make the setting echo their villainy.
How is this character larger-than-life? What does s/he do, say, think that would totally shock even themselves?

MOTIVATIONS

Deepen your character’s motivations and emotions by considering these.

Give the villain an inner conflict. What do they most want? What’s the opposite of that? How could the character want both at the same time?
Raise the stakes. Even villains can have the stakes raised! What could happen that would make the villain’s goal matter even more?
Have you plotted the villain?s character arc? Usually, the villain’s character arc ends in tragedy (s/he is defeated!). Do you show-don’t-tell your villain?s emotions at the climax?

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Villains to Imitate

Darcy Pattison — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:59:13 +0000

Great Villains to Study and Imitate

Harpercollins editor Susan Rich’s favorite villain are those in Roald Dahl’s stories. “I have great admiration for Roald Dahl’s villains. Farmer Boggis, Farmer Bounce, and Farmer Bean come to mind, the evil trio in Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. All three are boneheads, are united in their mission, and all three share that villainous trait of being so single minded about accomplishing their nefarious plot that they lose sight of all reason. Such disregard for logic makes them all the more frightening, and all the more fallible. ”

Carol Saller, editor for Cricket Books, says, “My favorite villain is definitely Arawn the Death Lord in Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles. Because we don’t see him directly, but only as he appears in various forms, each reader is left to imagine him as horribly as possible. He is so evil and so powerful that we can’t imagine how Taran will ever defeat him. And his agents the Huntsmen are themselves so unimaginably powerful (since killing one makes the rest stronger), Taran’s task takes on a heroic stature from the start.”

For more examples of villains, study The Oxford Books of Villains, by John Mortimer, the author of the Rumpole of the Bailey mysteries. He provides literary excerpts detailing villainy. These tend to be more the Victorian-type villains, but includes everything from Cain to Moriarty to Captain Hook. To study villainous characters in children’s books, begin with the following list. These villains represent a wide range of “bad guys” from the sympathetic Herdmans to the frightening Cruella DeVille.

Count Olaf in One Unfortunate Accident by Lemony Snicket
Voldemort in Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Wicked Witch of the West in Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
Judd Travers in Shiloh by Phillis Naylor
Miss Slighcarp in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
Archie in The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Cruella DeVille in 1001 Dalmations by Dodie Smith
Camilla Capybara in Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester
IT in A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle.
The villains in the Redwall books by Brian Jacques: Cluny the Scourge, Badrang, etc.
The Warden in Holes by Louis Sachar
Charlie Simms in The Well by Mildred D. Taylor
Artemis Fowl in Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Herdmans in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

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Villains Don’t Always Wear Black

Darcy Pattison — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:00:40 +0000

Evil is live spelled backwards. The protagonist of a novel represents life; the villain, anti-life. How do you develop, strengthen and revise this important character?

Count Olaf as the Ultimate Villainous Character

Harpercollins editor Susan Rich, who edited the Lemony Snicket series of fiction for children, comments about the villain in these books. “Count Olaf is reprehensible. He has barely any redeeming qualities. He’ll do anything to get what he wants. He reaps joy from his endless pursuit of the Baudelaire children. He’s thoroughly villainous.”

Among all the possible characters to populate a novel, the villain is one of the most interesting. The protagonist, or main character, receives the most attention in character development articles and books. But a good villain can bring a dull story to life. Francis Foster, publisher of Frances Foster Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, says, “A novel needs conflict. A good villain can make that conflict clear and strong. Villains add interest, excitement, edge.”

David Lubar, author of eleven novels and story collections, including Hidden Talents and True Talents, takes it a step farther. “There are both internal and external reasons to use a villain. Externally, this helps map the real world, which affirms the reader’s suspicion that there are unpleasant people out there. Internally, it raises the stakes. The hero can’t reason with a villain.”

Villain or Antagonist?

If nothing interesting happens without a villain, then we need to know what a villain is. Foster says, “Thinking of villains in the most basic, childlike language, he is the bad guy in the novel. The people that do evil things. They come in many different sizes and shapes.”

Rich says, “The villain is the nemesis of the protagonist, a no-good nick with ill intent. He’s nasty for the purpose of being nasty.”

How does a villain differ from an antagonist? An antagonist is a general term for the person who opposes the protagonist and villain is a sub-category of antagonists. Foster says, “An antagonist is someone that is against whatever is happening. They aren’t all villainous. You can be an antagonist, but still be good. On the other hand, a villain concentrates on bad deeds, on evil. ”

Are Villains limited to Folktales and Mock-Victorians?

It may seem that the term villain is outmoded. It applies only to folktales (monsters, witches, ogres, evil wizards) or to Victorian (Snively Whiplash) or outdated stories (outlaws like Jesse James). Contemporary antagonists tend to be more rounded, less patently evil. But editors insist that villains still populate contemporary books.

Rich says, “I edited Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, which is contemporary fiction set in India. The mother-in-law in the story has much in common with Count Olaf. She’s wholly villainous, wholly self-absorbed. She holds the power to undo the hope for the life of our protagonist.” Adding a villain character to a novel does help make the story more powerful: Whelan won the 2000 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for her novel, Homeless Bird.

Foster says an example of a contemporary villain is in Suzanne Fisher Staples’ novel, Dangerous Skies, which is set in Chesapeake Bay area. “The antagonist is pillar of the community, in that he gives money to the library and is from an old, respected family. He’s a bad character even though he isn’t generally recognized as this. What makes it so agonizing in reading and hard for the protagonist is that none of the adults see him as bad. They see him as a good man, but he’s not. He’s a villain.”

Create Antipathy instead of Sympathy for your Villain

Villains are bad guys who function in novels to escalate the conflict. But how do you create a convincing villain?

Lubar says, “Pure, unrelenting evil gets boring. That’s why Bond villains have pet cats. Give your villain a bit of depth and variety. In his excellent pamphlet, ’12 Things I Wish I had Known When I Started Writing,’ Ben Bova points out that, ‘No one actually sets out to do evil.’ This is a brilliant observation that has served me well in all my writing. (People who spend far too much time with books might recall the issue was also hashed around a bit by Socrates and Protagoras.) The bad guy isn’t doing bad stuff so he can rub his hands together and snarl. He may be driven by greed, neuroses, or the conviction that his cause is just, but he’s driven by something not unlike the things that drive a hero.”

When you create a villain, you want the reader of your novel to feel antipathy toward that character, rather than sympathy. To do this, you use the same tools that you use to characterize any character. Give the character a convincing backstory that explains motivations, then personalize them with depth and variety.

Foster edited Louis Sachar’s book, Holes, which won both the 1998 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the 1999 Newbery award. She says, “One thing about Sachar’s villains is that they are nuanced characters. He has a sort of darkly humorous approach, so his villains – even in Holes – aren’t cartoon characters.”

Foster discusses how Sachar creates both antipathy and sympathy for the villains. “You need enough enough explanation so you can understand the novel. In Holes, when you realize what the Warden’s history is, or when you look at Kissing Kate Barlow, you have examples of characters who seems justified in their actions. You understand why Kate turned bad. It makes the novel richer if you can follow the line of thinking or reasons for someone’s behavior. That doesn’t mean you always spell it out. But within the needs of the story, you need to know.”

Believable Character Motivations for Evil Characters

Sid Fleischman, author of numerous books, including the Newbery award winning novel, The Whipping Boy, says, “I do think you have to lay in, at least in a single broad stroke, a motivation for villainy. In the Three Little Pigs, we assume the wolf is hungry.”

Why is this character ignoring society’s standards of morality and doing something that is considered evil? Without this information, you run the danger of losing credibility in the story.

While most agree that the villain’s motivations need to be clear, some novels get by without this. Rich says, “Lemony Snicket never gives Count Olaf redeeming qualities. We’ll never learn that Count Olaf was mistreated as a child, or he is lonely, or needs a friend. He won’t be redeemed. He’s thoroughly villainous. I find that a redeeming quality; he’s likeable because he is so outrageously horrid.”

Because of her experience editing Count Olaf, Rich doesn’t agree that you must include specific motivations in every novel about a villain. “Resist the temptation to make him or her sympathetic. It’s not necessary. We don’t need to learn that the villain has a soft spot for puppies. That waters them down, rather than strengthens their character.” Count Olaf is a pure villain, through and through. And that is precisely what makes him a wonderful character.

The decision to include specific motivations or not must depend on the type novel you’re writing, and the specific needs of that story. Lemony Snicket’s stories are sort of mock-Victorian and following the Victorian tradition of melodramatic villains, he gets by with a pure villain. But even Holes, a modern-folktale story, requires a more developed villain.

Depth and Variety for Your Villains

After the broad strokes laying out the evil intentions and motives of the villain, it’s time to make him or her more specific. Look to the needs of the novel and the milieu of the story for ideas on specific villainy. For example, the Warden in Holes has rattlesnake venom nail polish. On his website, Sachar says, ” It’s hard to remember where different ideas come from, but I think it first started when I originally thought the Warden was going to be the granddaughter of Kissing Kate Barlow. And Kissing Kate always killed the men she kissed. At the time, I may have even considered that her lipstick might be poisoned. So, I wanted to do something along the same lines. Instead of poison lipstick, the warden had poison nail polish.”

Often writers have a difficult time creating specific evil in a novel. The writer is non-confrontational themselves, and it just feels wrong to include such bad things in a story for kids. Lubar says, “To do it right, I think you need to move beyond your own comfort level. If I create a villain who is basically just me at my worst, I’ll end up with a guy who jaywalks and maybe drinks milk directly out of the carton. Real villains do things I’d never do. (On the other hand, they obviously do things I’m capable of imagining and describing. But that’s another issue.)”

Tips to Write a Better Villain Character

“I think the main danger with a villain,” Fleischman says, “is going over the top. It’s easy to have him twirl his mustaches too much and chortle and sneer too sneeringly. You gotta make him believable. The villains in my novels chew up the scenery a bit more than others. I get away with these touches of whimsy because my novels are comedies.” In other words, avoid cliches and melodrama.

Often writers face critiques of their villains and the recommendation is to soften the villain’s evil ways. Foster says, “That usually means that the villain isn’t coming off as quite believable. The writer has put so much energy and emotion into creating the character that the writer has lost sight of how the villain is appearing. Usually, when a writer is asked to revise a depiction of a character it is to make it fit the needs of the novel better. It’s not because the editor is afraid of including an evil character in a novel.”

Foster gives an example. “When I worked with Louis Sachar on , There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom, the teacher seemed too harsh to believe in the first draft. He was modeling her on real life experiences, but the depiction wasn’t working. Sachar did soften the teacher character a bit, not because I was concerned about being politically correct, or teachers who might read the book or reviewers. But it was important that the character was strong and credible. By going back to look at her again, Sachar took the raw passion of the first draft and refined what he was doing.”

Above all, credibility is the key to creating good villains. Within the story being told, this villain’s evil ways must be appropriate.

“Believe in your villain,” Rich emphasizes, “as much as you believe in your heroes.”

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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A Year of Voice Descriptions

Darcy Pattison — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:17:59 +0000

Before December 11, 2006, I wouldn’t have thought to describe a character’s voice. Then along came Vocal Impressions on National Public Radio. Wow! It’s evocative to describe a character’s voice, and if you use a metaphor that also evokes a character quality, you’re even farther along!

Raw Voice + Apt Metaphor = Characterization

From the 10th installment of Vocal Impressions come these characterizations:

Ray Charles

Listeners say the singer sounds like:
- The voice of the maitre d’ who tells you to keep the $50 after putting you at the best table in the house — Brad Densmore
- A ’64 Corvette tuned by an angel — Tim Hathaway
- Honey on a bruise — Kristin Schade

Lucille Ball
Listeners say the comedienne sounds like:
- The twinkle in a little girl’s eye when she finds her mother’s lipstick for the first time — Noelle Leiblic
- A windup toy you just let loose — Laura Sysko
- A velvet hammer soaked in henna rinse — Lynette Dupree
Harvey Fierstein
Listeners say the actor sounds like:
- The fuzzy dice on my pink Cadillac — Tim Klavon
- A lion with an elegant fashion sense — Tim Hathaway
- The voice of the killer in the horror movie — Catherine Zaegel
Cher
Listeners say the singer sounds like:
- A long, straight, vertical, blue, neon light — Martha Buyer
- The entire cast of the Ice Capades winking at you — Jill Stearling
- A really good sneeze — Leslie Abrahamson

Think about the differences in your character’s voices: the main characters, supporting characters, good characters v. bad characters, villains. Fictional characters will come alive as you start to “hear” them speaking.

Other Vocal Impressions on National Public Radio

Number Nine
Number Eight
Number Seven
Number Six
Number Five
Number Four
Number Three
Number Two
Number One

Read more in 15 Days to a Stronger Character

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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