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Today on Spacedock 19, JC Martin gives us tips on writing a great villain. Thanks for visiting, JC.
J.C. Martin is a butt-kicking bookworm: when she isn’t reading or writing, she teaches martial arts and self-defence to adults and children.
After working in pharmaceutical research, then in education as a schoolteacher, she decided to put the following to good use: one, her 2nd degree black belt in Wing Chun kung fu; and two, her overwhelming need to write dark mysteries and gripping thrillers with a psychological slant.
Her short stories have won various prizes and have been published in several anthologies. Oracle is her first novel.
Born and raised in Malaysia, J.C. now lives in south London with her husband and three dogs.
Take it away JC …
A good story must have more than just a likeable hero we all want to root for. For me, an intriguing villain is just as important, someone to really challenge the protagonist, to give the hero a run for their money. Alongside literary heroes like Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Rebus and Hercule Poirot, the names of some fictional villains live on in infamy: Hannibal Lecter, Professor Moriarty, and Tom Ripley, to name but a few.
So how does one write an antagonist everyone will love to hate? The secret is striking a fine balance between the following factors:
Give your villain a story
What made your bad guy? Is it nature or nurture? What experiences in their lives were the turning points that made them who they are?
Giving your villain a back story will make them more three-dimensional, and a sad or traumatic past could help readers sympathise with the antagonist, even if they may not agree with their methods of coping. Understanding what makes them tick can make a villain all the more creepy, especially if those factors are common real life issues in society: domestic abuse, drugs, gang crimes, etc.
Give your villain quirks
Does your villain undergo a ritual before every evil deed? Are they insanely superstitious, or profoundly logical in their reasoning? Is he a charming ladies’ man, an everyman, or an intellectual genius?
Just as you give your protagonist quirks to make them more ‘real’, giving your villain quirks will make him seem more a real threat than an anonymous evil.
Give your villain some redeeming (but not too redeeming!) qualities
Does your villain draw the line at harming children? Do they have a soft spot for animals? Or are their evil deeds underlined by noble intentions, no matter how warped and twisted?
Partly redeeming qualities makes your villain more human, and although it may not justify their actions, it at least makes them that bit more relatable.
Readers are no longer satisfied with cardboard cut-out villains like the troll under the bridge. Why is the Evil Stepmother evil? What made the Big Bad Wolf bad? Answering these questions will raise your bad guy above the one-dimensional villains of old fairy tales past, and add layers to a compelling, if contemptible, character.
Who is YOUR favourite literary villain? What makes him/her compelling?
Oracle
With London gearing up to host the Olympics, the city doesn’t need a serial killer stalking the streets, but they’ve got one anyway.
Leaving a trail of brutal and bizarre murders, the police force is no closer to finding the latest psychopath than Detective Inspector Kurt Lancer is in finding a solution for his daughter’s disability.
Thrust into the pressure cooker of a high profile case, the struggling single parent is wound tight as he tries to balance care of his own family with the safety of a growing population of potential victims.
One of whom could be his own daughter.
Fingers point in every direction as the public relations nightmare grows, and Lancer’s only answer comes in the form of a single oak leaf left at each crime scene.
Purchase Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble
Contact JC Martin: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
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In celebration of Christine Rains highly anticipated release of Fearless this week, she asked us to join in the fun with a blogfest. She asks: What’s Your Childhood Monster?
As a kid I was terrified of those big blue mailboxes at the street corners. I’ve always had a tendency to be a night owl. So to get me to come in without a fuss when I was a wee tot, about three, my father told me that the mailboxes came alive at sundown and ate small children. I would not go near the things for quite some time.
What about you? What did you fear when you were a kid?
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What a terrible thing to say about a mailbox! LOL Everybody knows it’s the fire hydrant…
My fear was giant ants from the movie “Them.”
Oracle sounds awesome and is on my TBR list. :)
Giving the villian a story is so important. I’ve read too many villians who are just bad for no real reason. They are better and scarier when they are ‘real’.
When I was in grade 2, we moved to a house that had a huge tree in the backyard with some kind of bark growth on the side. At a distance, it looked like someone was peeking around the trunk of the tree and I always thought someone was watching me. I was SO glad when we moved again. :D
Mine was the mirror monster.
I love that cover for small graces.
Great tips from JC Martin! I agree, she rocks :) What a wonderful story about the blue mailboxes! I’m sure your father never meant to cause you such angst, and it must have eaten at him to know he had. Funny how an offhand remark, made perhaps in desperation, can stick in our psyche. Thanks for sharing!
Oh I laughed at what your father told you about the mailboxes! I’m sure that was an effective tool for getting you inside at night LOL.
I’m really looking forward to reading Oracle.
Super-great tips, JC! And as always, what a perfect book for this time of year. As for villains, I do pretty well with the first two items. It’s that redeemable quality I have to work on. But these are the best way to go!
Hi, Mary! *waves* My monster as a child? Bette Davis in “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte”–EEP!!! :D LOL! <3
J.C. really is right on the money with making believable villains. Every story I can think of that I really liked from Batman to Silence of the Lambs and Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, etc. etc. always had a great villain.
Stories with no villain just seem to flop around like a dead fish gasping for air.
lol Laura. Maybe it’s both. Them is a great movie.
Villains need as much attention as the good guys. You’re right, Lynda.
That sounds like a creepy tree, Darke.
The mirror monsters sounds intense, Ciara. Thank you.
Nice seeing you, Gullie. JC does rock. I’m pretty sure my dad was trying to be funny & had no idea he freaked me out.
It was very effective, Julie. There were no more arguments from that day on about going inside. I went in on my own at sundown … until later.
Oh, I can see why, Leigh. She was scary in that movie.
My favorite villains were Mr. Vandemeer and Mr. Croup in Neverwhere, Michael.
Good tips. Too black and white makes for stereotypes. I like characters with depth and nuance.
Mailboxes! There’s an original childhood fear. :) I didn’t know JC was a martial arts expert. How cool is that! Looking forward to reading her book.
Nutschell
http://www.thewritingnut.com
Great tips. Mailbox LOL
Mailboxes – that’s original.
I haven’t used an actual villain, although a couple are shaping up to be villains in my next book.
Funny about the mailboxes!
Great writing advice. One of my favorite villains is Leck from Graceling and Fire by Kristin Cashore; he’s sadistic and can completely control other individuals, but he has weaknesses for the people who pay enough attention to facts.
The villain stuff was interesting…a bad guy with some vulnerability is more interesting. We have our version of bogeyman to scare little night owls.
Nuance is one of my favorite things, Lee.
I still eye them warily, Schell. :) Martial arts is a cool skill to have.
lol I know, Maurice.
I’ve had more nemesis’s and bothers than actual villains, too, Alex. Unless you count the Fo’wo’s.
I like weaknesses in the villains, too, Eagle.
Vulnerability is interesting, Rek.
Great post, JC! And thanks for sharing your monster with us, Mary. Yours is a unique one. So mundane and yet so fearsome! Thank you for helping promote my novella too. :)
My childhood monster was the toyol. Muslim tradition dictates that a dead body is wrapped in a shroud before burial. If the shroud was tied on too tight, either accidentally or on purpose, the body becomes a toyol–basically a zombie wrapped up in an oversized blanket that can only hop around. Although they’re not purported to be threatening to humans, they scared the bejeebers out of me.
Thank you to Mary for allowing me to hijack her lovely new blog, and thanks to everyone who commented! I hope you found my post useful, and that you all enjoy the book should you get around to reading it!
Great advice JC! I found the tips very helpful.
When I was little I was not afrais of much, but I didn’t like stuffed clowns (or figurines). I think the movie The Poltergeist did it to me with one of the scenes.
Poor little M! I can’t imagine you all frightened by those carnivorous mailboxes!
They have those big mouths that can snap your arm off, Christine.
It was great to have you on JC. Come back again some time.
Clowns are just generally creepy, Jess.
I really enjoy writing my bad-guys. They’re every inch as interesting (if not more so) than my heroes.
Hahaha mailboxes eating children. Genius, if somewhat twisted. :-)
Jess: I’m glad you found them helpful! Don’t like creepy porcelain dolls myself. Too much Chucky as a child!
Misha: Yes, bad guys are such fun to write!
Nice to meet you, JC. I agree that villains cannot be black and white and some redeeming qualities are needed.
Mary- blue mailboxes? *small grin*
You have great characters, Misha. The twist seems to suit me.
I do love a dastardly villain, Brinda. Yes, only the big ones.
Hehe mailboxes. :)
You’ve just gotta love those deep and vulnerable villains. Just recently I thought about trying a story with the villain as the main character. :)
My favorite move villain is Mr. Gru from Despicable Me. He’s evil, but he is awesome too. I hate to say this because I’m probably going to hell for it, but the characterization of Satan in Paradise Lost is brilliant.
I like the idea of a villain having a ritual. Yes, cookie-cutter villains are no fun. So excited about Oracle!
Great advice about villains. I love one that I kind of agree with. It makes things more interesting.
Jaws for me, no doubt. You wouldn’t believe how freaked out I would be just staring into the deep end of the pool. I still refuse to go into the ocean.
Just look at one next time, Amanda. They have those sinister sneers.
I love awesome evil, Tonja. I’ll have to check that book out.
They can’t all be Snidely Whiplash, that’s true, Theresa.
I can understand the shark thing, Rusty. Makes more sense than a mailbox.
Great tips, JC!
And no wonder you were scared of mailboxes; I would have been, too! But, hey, that is how fairy tales start.
My monster: http://thewarriormuse.blogspot.com/2012/08/childhood-monster-blog-fest.html
Great piece, JC. I’ve always been told to remember that the villain is the hero in her/his own story so I make sure that I give them a backstory just like I do my heroes. Will definitely be checking out Oracle.
Mary, that is terrible about those mailboxes. My grandfather made up monster for me, The Hobiats. They are lumpy, hairy little guys with beady red eyes that come in through the closet, under the bed or through the vents to steal your toys and bite your toes.