Story Concierge
a blog for writers with tips, tricks, & all things writing
Even Your Villains Need A Reason
It's Writer Wednesday and today I'm talking about writing the perfect VILLAIN!
Snidely Whiplash, an archetypical sinister cartoon villain
I love me some villains, well the good ones, the well written, well thought out villains who are bad for a reason. Now, that reason probably doesn't make much sense to you and me because we are not villains but to them it is their WHY!
In Lisa Cron's craft book on writing, WIRED FOR STORY, she talks about your character's misbelief and how this shapes everything they do in the story. This is NOT the same as the flaw they have.
For example a flaw may be that they gossip, or talk too much, or are self-centered, or argue about every little thing, or they bite their nails, or they are defensive---etc--these are character flaws but they aren't WHO the character is, just what they do.
WHO the character is goes way back to when something happened that created a misbelief for them. That misbelief is holding them back in...
What Story Changed Your Life?
