Well my laptop is finally operational. I lost the old one though, for now, but I was able to save the hard drive. Ugh. Don’t you hate computer malfunction?
Okay, bad guys.
Your villain is half the story. Even if the reader doesn’t know who it is until the end, as in a mystery, he needs to be a worthy opponent for your protagonist. He needs to be able to match wits, strength, and psyches. He needs to be as stealth at being a bad guy as your protagonist is at being the good guy. It’s like a well choreographed dance, if done right, will keep the reader guessing until the very end who will win. Like Batman vs. the Joker- Batman is quick, crafty, and smart. The Joker is clever, ruthless and cunning. It’s the most basic good against evil fight.
As others have said, he has to be human. Multi-dimensional. He needs to have traits just like any other character even if he’s a serial killer. Remember this, even Hitler loved dogs.
He needs his own reasoning, no matter how warped, for doing the things he does. Give him a backstory. Was he abused? By who? How did he cope? How does that drive his actions today? Give him his own fears, interests, goals. What motivates him? What does he want out of this story? How will he get it? Make it personal. Because a psycho, just because, is boring.
Remember the movie Psycho? That worked so well because Norman Bates had an over-bearing, controlling mother, that he all at once hated and loved, and that shaped him from childhood. Everything she drilled into his head hit home and stuck with him, creating the twisted man with the sweet face who no one would suspect was a murderer.
And a lot of psychology goes into creating a good bad guy. Try reading up on the subject. Jung, Adler, Freud. You might be surprised by the inspiration and ideas that spring from delving into the human mind. Then, get into his head on the page. Try writing from the killer’s POV, if not for the story, then at least to better understand him. Dig around a little. Remember Hannibal Lector? He was a great villain. Watch Silence of the Lambs to see an incredibly scary, yet well fleshed out antagonist.
Barbra Annino
Showing posts with label Bad guys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bad guys. Show all posts
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
"I Love My Bad Guys"
First off, I wanted to thank Nicole for inviting me to share some information with her regular readers. my novels all tend to run towards the PI/mysrey genre, but I have begun writing short stories with a decidedly paranormal flair to them. This article deals with some concepts the writers and readers of all types of fiction could benefit from.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the International Festival of Authors in Toronto this past year, the short drive across the Peace Bridge into Canada being yet another perk of living in Western New York. While there, I attended a roundtable discussion of the psychology of the villain in contemporary fiction. The formal title of the roundtable was “Psycho-babble – Inside the Character’s Twisted Mind.” The panel included such heavyweights in crime and thriller fiction as John Connolly, Jeffery Deaver, Elena Forbes, and newcomer Ross Raisin. As a mystery writer myself, it was a thrill to sit and listen to these writers discuss their writing, their work schedules, their inspirations, and their unique insights into character development. And as they went on, I noticed a common theme to all of their writing, and it was said best by Deaver: “I love my bad guys.”
Here’s a sampling of the items touched on by the panel:
1. Create villains that are real to engage the reader. If the hero prevails against a cardboard bad guy, then it is the hero who is diminished. But think about what you do to the villain, and be careful not to make him more captivating than the hero.
2. It is also important that along with being bad, your villain must be human. You should have the reader asking why he does what he does. The bad guy may not always see himself as bad, or he may see what he does is good based on his sense of right or wrong.
3. Be a compulsive researcher as much as possible. Develop an interest in people beyond themselves, and even develop affection for them. That way you can find the humanity in your villain and all your characters.
4. Most people, villains and bad guys included, act out of selfishness and/or fear. For one example, they discussed the concept of Mad vs. Bad in relation to the villain. The villains that are interesting to these writers are the ones who lack a social or moral compass. In other words, they may be perfectly aware they are committing a crime, and are perfectly fine with it.
5. There is always a conflict between truth and credibility. Believe it or not, the authors found that there are so many real life crimes that are too incredible in their very nature to make effective stories. Despite being true, they would not make credible stories. The “ick” factor of many true stories is an incredibly fine line to walk for most writers. This discussion gave rise to one of the funniest exchanges of the afternoon. John Connelly was saying that he does not read as much true crime as he used to, due to the gratuitous use of shock and violence. He also criticized another crime fiction writer for doing just that, and drew fire himself for the critique. He asked the panel. “Do we have to be nice and not criticize each other?
Jeffery Deaver responded, “John, we all know 50 ways to kill people.”
So how do you all handle creating your bad guys? and what do you love about them? I'm dying to hear...
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the International Festival of Authors in Toronto this past year, the short drive across the Peace Bridge into Canada being yet another perk of living in Western New York. While there, I attended a roundtable discussion of the psychology of the villain in contemporary fiction. The formal title of the roundtable was “Psycho-babble – Inside the Character’s Twisted Mind.” The panel included such heavyweights in crime and thriller fiction as John Connolly, Jeffery Deaver, Elena Forbes, and newcomer Ross Raisin. As a mystery writer myself, it was a thrill to sit and listen to these writers discuss their writing, their work schedules, their inspirations, and their unique insights into character development. And as they went on, I noticed a common theme to all of their writing, and it was said best by Deaver: “I love my bad guys.”
Here’s a sampling of the items touched on by the panel:
1. Create villains that are real to engage the reader. If the hero prevails against a cardboard bad guy, then it is the hero who is diminished. But think about what you do to the villain, and be careful not to make him more captivating than the hero.
2. It is also important that along with being bad, your villain must be human. You should have the reader asking why he does what he does. The bad guy may not always see himself as bad, or he may see what he does is good based on his sense of right or wrong.
3. Be a compulsive researcher as much as possible. Develop an interest in people beyond themselves, and even develop affection for them. That way you can find the humanity in your villain and all your characters.
4. Most people, villains and bad guys included, act out of selfishness and/or fear. For one example, they discussed the concept of Mad vs. Bad in relation to the villain. The villains that are interesting to these writers are the ones who lack a social or moral compass. In other words, they may be perfectly aware they are committing a crime, and are perfectly fine with it.
5. There is always a conflict between truth and credibility. Believe it or not, the authors found that there are so many real life crimes that are too incredible in their very nature to make effective stories. Despite being true, they would not make credible stories. The “ick” factor of many true stories is an incredibly fine line to walk for most writers. This discussion gave rise to one of the funniest exchanges of the afternoon. John Connelly was saying that he does not read as much true crime as he used to, due to the gratuitous use of shock and violence. He also criticized another crime fiction writer for doing just that, and drew fire himself for the critique. He asked the panel. “Do we have to be nice and not criticize each other?
Jeffery Deaver responded, “John, we all know 50 ways to kill people.”
So how do you all handle creating your bad guys? and what do you love about them? I'm dying to hear...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Recipe for the Bad Guy...
- 1 cup of nasty attitude
- 1 $5000 dollar suit and cuban cigars (can be substituted for black jeans, black shirt and accessories)
- A talent for stringing curse words together (in public or private)
- A wicked fast car, truck or fancy army outfitted vehicle (Add a fleet of various ones for added effect)
- Motive for Nepharious deeds (Lots of cash (illgotten of course) or No cash at all, Computer technology- Be creative)
- Evil soul (Can be substituted with mental defect or tortured past)
Bake in the pits of H**L until sufficiently motivated to cause mayhem and murder.
Finish by adding your weapon of choice (LOTS of them)!
Sounds silly doesn't it? Yet, a lot of book and movie bad guys fall into this recipe or formula for the modern day bad guy. It's not enough for the reader or watcher to know WHAT they are, but WHY they are. Unless a bad guy is a sociopath or just plain psychotic, something made him the way he is. What makes them do what they do best? Add in the Paranormal bad guys and well alot of backstory could be in their make up. So how do you break free of the cookie cutter CEO's gone sour and hitman out for revenge? Show their human side. A newborn has the potential to be the next president or just as likely the next serial killer. The same goes with characters. What path did life set for them? What choices did they make to bring them to this point? Therin lies your answer to the perfect bad guy.
Beth
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