I got a little caught up in day-jobbery the last couple weeks, and I figure I covered how useful (or not) reviews/feedback can be in a prior post (plus, I pretty much just agree with Martha – Don’t Be That Guy). A friend did recently ask where my “villains” post was, as she was looking forward to it, so you know, I’m just gonna be a little retro here.
Some of my favorite books are the ones that don’t actually have villains in them. They simply have people who want different things than your main character(s) want. That’s the secret to writing any great villain. They are the people so terribly human that you find yourself half-believing that maybe you should be rooting for them after all. George R.R. Martin and Joe Abercrombie do a lot of this, where everybody is basically varying shades of gray. When you understand why it is people are doing terrible things, it helps you understand why they do what they do, and – if you do it right – can actually make them a sympathetic character. Not likable, by any means, but somebody whose motivations you can understand. (more…)
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In discussing villains, this week several of my co-bloggers here at The Night Bazaar have observed that they aren’t fans of stark black and white, good and evil, but prefer shades of gray. I don’t disagree with them, but I also think there’s an important difference between villain and antagonist. “Antagonist” is a general “slot” into which a person fits in a narrative structure; that person could be evil, good, or (like most things) kinda whatever. There’s also a big difference between protagonist and hero. Hero is the opposite of villain, not the opposite of antagonist. 
I went to Viable Paradise forever and a day ago. It was my first writing workshop, and I was nervous as hell. I’ll admit now (this should come as no big surprise) that I went largely to meet Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden. Sure, I was there to learn, but I also wanted to connect, network, find my “in” to the business.
I’m not much for painting in stark blacks and whites. The real world isn’t like that. It’s full of varying shades of grey. Personally, I feel this is the case because we’re meant to think about things. Being an ethical person isn’t easy. It isn’t meant to be. (Which is why I dislike Superman so much. It’s so… flat and boring.) It’s been my experience that when people force reality to conform to pat answers of good vs evil — that’s when they’re more likely to cross the line and become cruel, negative, selfish and well… not to put too fine a point on it… evil. They can have the best of intentions. It doesn’t matter. Evil, real evil, is subtile and comes in all sorts of forms. It wears robes the color of righteousness and tells you to fear that which doesn’t conform. (Think about the film Se7en. Wow. John Doe? Talk about a creepy villain.) It can also be banal and suburban too. Evil isn’t about thinking too much, ultimately. (Super-genius villains tend to be cartoony for that reason.) It isn’t about hard work either. That’s for other people. It can be all about the thrill of power and manipulation too. Fantasy, much as I love it, tends to set up conflicts simplistically. I feel that’s not only lazy thinking, it’s lazy writing too. No one is 100% pure evil — just as no human being is 100% pure good. Villains need layers and complexity the same way Heroes do. They’re more effective that way. Like Courtney, my favorite kind of villain is the sort that feels they’re fighting the good fight. They’re the kind of person who feels the ends justifies the means. (Kick-Ass is one of my favorite examples. Is Mindy’s father a good guy or a bad guy?) Then there’s the banal villain. Ever see the film Jennifer’s Body? The black hats in that film are a group of loser musicians who want to become the next “It” band. They don’t have any higher aspirations than money, a cool car, drugs, and chicks. Dull crap one can achieve with far less drastic means. They just don’t want to work for it. They don’t want to wait. They can’t be bothered. They’re too “special” for that shit. I like that. They’re so… suburban and dull, yet, very evil. Anyway, that’s how I feel about villains. The more human they are, they scarier they’ll be.
First, let’s take a moment to define “villain”: for me, it’s an individual character antagonist, as opposed to faceless implacable threats like viruses, mega-corporations, zombie plagues, etc. While stories about man vs. mindless monsters can be gripping, powerful reads, my favorite stories tend to have individuals as antagonists.
