Villains have more fun
Not only do my villains have more fun, they're a hoot to write.
As scary as it may sound, other than Raine, the easiest character for me to write is Sarad Nukpana. His dialogue simply flows. I don't have to sit around and immerse myself in his motivation before I start to write. It's like flipping a switch; when I'm ready to write a scene that he's in, he's right there waiting. And he's actually been known to slither into a scene that I hadn't planned on him being in.
But what is the most fun are scenes with Raine and one of the villains. Absolutely nothing is more fun than Raine and Sarad/Rudra/Carnades/The Demon Queen getting in each other's faces. Again, no dialogue strain for me at all -- the snark, banter, threats, and one-liners just flow. And don't think that I reserve all of that villainous fun just for the guys -- future books will feature more heavy-hitter female villains.
Let's face it -- villains are fascinating. Heck, I've got so many of them, I've broken them down into classifications. There are the obvious major villains (Sarad & Rudra), the minor villains (Carnades/Taltek Balmorlan), the bad guys (Lucan Kalta), and the ever-popular toady/snitch (this would be Ocnus). And in upcoming books, there are characters who are not what they seem: Raine's not sure if one character in particular is a villain or a good guy doing one heck of an undercover job -- or if a good guy is a villain.
I saw a bumper sticker once that pretty much sums it up for me: Villains have more fun!
I've decided not to blog tomorrow due to being mucho busy. I have a meeting with my web team in the morning, shopping/errands to run during the day, finish Chapter 1 of Con & Conjure and hopefully start Chapter 2, and our new next-door neighbors have invited Derek & I over for dinner. Full day. But I'll have a good post for you on Monday; I promise.
Have yourselves a great weekend!
Lisa
As scary as it may sound, other than Raine, the easiest character for me to write is Sarad Nukpana. His dialogue simply flows. I don't have to sit around and immerse myself in his motivation before I start to write. It's like flipping a switch; when I'm ready to write a scene that he's in, he's right there waiting. And he's actually been known to slither into a scene that I hadn't planned on him being in.
But what is the most fun are scenes with Raine and one of the villains. Absolutely nothing is more fun than Raine and Sarad/Rudra/Carnades/The Demon Queen getting in each other's faces. Again, no dialogue strain for me at all -- the snark, banter, threats, and one-liners just flow. And don't think that I reserve all of that villainous fun just for the guys -- future books will feature more heavy-hitter female villains.
Let's face it -- villains are fascinating. Heck, I've got so many of them, I've broken them down into classifications. There are the obvious major villains (Sarad & Rudra), the minor villains (Carnades/Taltek Balmorlan), the bad guys (Lucan Kalta), and the ever-popular toady/snitch (this would be Ocnus). And in upcoming books, there are characters who are not what they seem: Raine's not sure if one character in particular is a villain or a good guy doing one heck of an undercover job -- or if a good guy is a villain.
I saw a bumper sticker once that pretty much sums it up for me: Villains have more fun!
I've decided not to blog tomorrow due to being mucho busy. I have a meeting with my web team in the morning, shopping/errands to run during the day, finish Chapter 1 of Con & Conjure and hopefully start Chapter 2, and our new next-door neighbors have invited Derek & I over for dinner. Full day. But I'll have a good post for you on Monday; I promise.
Have yourselves a great weekend!
Lisa
posted by Lisa Shearin at
6:44 AM
11 Comments:
This is the big problem for me. I have a vague story idea in my head... vague may be a little bit of an understatement as I have scenes, and dialogue, and relationship development. But I have no villain! I have an idea of where a villain could be placed, but who they are, their motivation, and what they'll be doing next... I have nada. I've tried researching enemies of the mythology I'm using, but I'm not really finding anything. I can't progress a story without my baddie! Any tips at all, Lisa, for finding my baddie?
Have a good weekend!
Lisa, you are lucky! For me, villains are the hardest characters to write. I have trouble getting into their heads. I constantly have to stop myself from using `um... they're evil?' as the main motivation. I have to second Jo. How DO you make such terrific baddies?
I don't know what this says about me, psychologically speaking, but suave,urbane villains just come to me. Easily. ; ) Low-life scumbag villains are a little more difficult.
Here's my two cents: bad guys are characters, just like good guys. They have goals, quirks, all that. Think of them as characters, write them like the rest, and that should help you.
Lisa, I imagine that's how you do it.
And, if all else fails, let some aspect of society in need of changing be the "villain." It's worked for me.
Ooh, I love me a sizzlin' hot villain! Keep up the good work, Lisa.
I'm with you on the villains are fun. They probably are easier to write because we know we have to hate them, they have to create horrid torture etc.
I always enjoy writing mine in.
Villains are probably the most entertaining characters one can come across in just about anything. Take Disney for example (Although this is an IMO comment) - Disney white knight and fairy princesses are always pristine, perfect and (imo part) kinda dry. Being the all-powerful, flawless characters. Villains on the other hand, you can give them quirks, flaws, make then cool, interesting, ugly even. Villains it seems are the only ones around that have some sort of flaw, otherwise they’d be unbeatable, however to have flaws make them seem a little bit more real.
And then of course there’s the part where they’re usually homicidal, world dominating maniacs, but that’s where I start to frown. The above was just a Disney sort of example so of course the characters are typically simple, kids usually watch ‘em.
In adult fantasy/dark fantasy novels, characters become intermingled, quirky and well rounded (usually). Lisa’s novels, Jim Butcher’s novels and a books series by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee called the Malus Darkblade series (A Tale of Malus Darkblade to be exact, from Warhammer novels) are some of series that are not only enjoyable but hold characters you can laugh with, characters you can relate to, over all just well rounded characters that have something my mum likes to call ‘the human element’. Basically, they seem balanced to have flaws, quirks and strengths.
Hmmm, I'll have to check out the Malus Darkblade books.
Malus Darkblade Series is pretty good. It's dark though, kinda of one of those 'pick your poisons' because Malus is about as cruel as any villain around, except he's the hero who's facing things that are even worse than himself.
Sometimes my villains become main characters. The good ones, the ones that aren; cardboard props for heroisim, are always fun to write. It's how you indulge all your wicked plans for world domination and revenge.
I can't wait to see how everything turns out!
Not exactly on villains, but I've been thinking about rogue characters. the ones where you cannot tell who's side they're on.
(I just watched `Inkheart'. Dustfinger is still awesome, though they kind of pulled a couple `greedo shot firsts' so he's actually a bit less amoral than he is in the first book.)
The thing with amoral characters is that they tend to have really strong motivation, or they wouldn't switch sides all the time. I guess I'd have less trouble if I treated villains more like `gray' characters. I've been trying to head in that direction, but it takes some conscious thought. Old habits die hard.
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