(LOGO)
Hellooo, everybody! Today we're talking about bad guys because someone's got a fuck
shit up in your novel, am I right. This topic is dedicated to two of my patrons over on Patreon:
Chris Karlyle and Bek Kay. Chris and Bek, Bek and Chris, you're the coolest, yeah! Chris and Bek
wanted to learn more about writing antagonists and villains, and I'm always down to talk about
villains. They're my kind of people. I'm giving you the five most important things you ought to
consider when writing baddies, but first things first. What's an antagonist? What's a villain?
And what's the difference? As the name suggests, an antagonist is someone who antagonizes the
protagonist, they oppose the protagonist’s goal, they inhibit their plan, they create conflict.
A villain also creates conflict, but there was a little something extra added to the mix, they’re
evil. Therein lies the difference. Just because an antagonist is getting in the protagonist's way,
doesn't mean they're a cruel or malicious person. Villains, on the other hand, usually have sinister
intentions. Simply put, the villain of the story is also the antagonist. But the antagonist
isn't necessarily a villain. Now for the sake of consistency. I'm going to be referring to villains
throughout the duration of this video. But all these tips apply to antagonists as well. Number
One (1): Make them a worthy rival. There are few things more disappointing than an easily thwarted
villain. Your bad guy needs to be as strong and capable as the protagonist at an absolute minimum,
it would be even more exciting if they were stronger than the protagonist, or better in
some way. Give them an advantage, stack the cards against your hero. The reason for this is simple:
conflict drives the plot of the novel, and if the conflict is weak or easy to resolve,
that's not interesting. Your reader isn't gonna get involved in the story, because there's not
a whole lot of story to get involved in in the first place. Heighten the tension by making your
villain a worthy opponent, someone who pushes the protagonist to work harder and smarter than
ever before. This will keep the conflict engaging and your readers invested. Number Two (2): Give
them a believable motivation. “But Jennaaa, of course, my villain has a motivation. He's
eeevil.” That sounds like some shitty writing. As we already covered, not all antagonists are
eeevil, so that's not gonna work. And even though villains do have evil intentions,
there's still gotta be a reason behind it. There are plenty of real motivators for awful actions,
like self preservation, or narcissism, or greed. Take a real human emotion and expand upon it. Why
do they feel such a strong need to preserve their bloodline? Where does this greed stem from? And
if you're having trouble finding inspiration, flip through a history book. There are plenty
of horrible people and heinous events to learn from. The number one thing to keep in mind while
you're crafting your villain's motivation is that this person believes passionately in what they're
doing. I'm sure you've heard the phrase that the antagonist is the protagonist of their own story.
They truly believe their agenda is worth fighting for. So that agenda needs to be more than pure
eeevil. It needs to be something that benefits them personally, or a cause they're aligned to
for transparent reasons. The reader doesn't have to agree with their motivation, but they should
at least understand it. Number Three (3): Remember your villain is human, unless they're not human.
But the advice still applies. Create your villain, the way you create all of your characters:
as a complex human being. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are their hopes and fears?
What was their childhood like? Their family life? Their upbringing? You don't have to include their
backstory in the novel. In fact, a lot of the time that's completely unnecessary, but you should at
least know their backstory for your own personal benefit. This person may be a total piece of shit,
but even shit has layers. The villain should be written as a believable person through
their actions, their body language, and most importantly, their words. That means you need to
resist the urge to use textbook bad guy dialogue. “All of you will grovel at my feet!” “Come out,
come out, wherever you are! “You fools. It was I all along.” If the dialogue reads like something
that could be followed by a thunderclap or ominous laughter, then you're not writing a human,
you're writing a cartoon character. Next the dude's gonna be tying a woman to the train
tracks and twisting his handlebar mustache. (Evil laugh) Your villain is a vital part of your story,
and that means they should be handled with the same care and detail as the rest of your cast.
Don't phone it in with bad guy cheesiness. Give the character a personality and voice.
Number Four (4): If the villains got a surprise reveal, give them henchmen. We've all read stories
where the villain of the novel is a mystery, or maybe the villain is hidden within the cast and
the reader has to try and figure it out. It's your job as a writer to keep their identity hidden,
but still sprinkle in enough breadcrumbs that the reveal makes sense. There is one issue with
this format, your villain’s supposed to create conflict, and how are they gonna create conflict
if they're not in 90% of the novel? This is where henchmen come into play. If you can't
reveal your villain for a major chunk of the story, you gotta do the next best thing and
have their associates do the work for them. If your bad guy is the leader of an evil army,
have his soldiers wreak havoc. If your villains a killer clown, have the rest of the clown car fuck
shit up. The readers need to believe that this person is a threat, they need to feel that facing
them would put the protagonist in real danger. So if the villain can't make an appearance,
it's time to usher in the goons. And lastly, Number Five (5): Validate their shittiness. I've
read manuscripts where the characters discuss over and over again how bad the bad guy is. And that's
it. That's all we get. You mean they're just going to say he's bad? He's not going to actually do bad
things? This isn't going to fly with the reader, if anything is just going to frustrate them.
Whether it's through their own actions or through their henchmen, the villain’s got to throw their
weight around. And they gotta do it early in the story. This sets a precedent. It lets both the
reader and the protagonist know that this person isn't fucking around. You want the reader to take
them seriously. And that's not gonna happen if people are just talking about how awful they
are. “Whoo, he's so scary.” Are you sure about that? Cuz I just think he's boring. Writers,
it's not enough that you establish a character as the bad guy. You need to prove that status through
deliberate actions with dire consequences. So that's all I got for you today. A huge thank
you to both Chris and Beck for all the love and support, and for recommending this eeevil topic.
(Evil Voice) Eeevil! Eeevil! Eeevil! If you'd like the chance to have a vlog dedicated to you,
and you want access to tons of other awesome rewards, check me out on Patreon I got the link
listed below. With that said, don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on
Wednesdays. Eve: The Awakening is still available in ebook and paperback on Amazon right now,
you can also order a signed copy, all the links are listed below. And if you have any questions
be sure to tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye!
(Evil Voice) I love being eeevil!