Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Casting the Villain #MFRWAuthor #BWLAuthor #Villains

The third of the major characters is the villain. Now he may or may not have a viewpoint section in your story but you need to know a bit about him before you cast him. The villain doesn't have to be a mean, nasty character or even an evil one. The villain can be someone who for his or her own reasons sets out to keep the hero or heroine from reaching their goals. One thing to remember when you;re developing your villain he or she needs to have some kind of redeeming characteristic. This may be something simple. I like to write villains. This gives me a chance to rid myself of some of my nasty thoughts. One of my villains has a fondness for his mother. Another villain is a nasty one. She loves her son but loves herself more. So look at your villains the same way you would look at your other main characters in the story.

. 1. Name – To me this is important since I can’t write about a nameless character.

2. Physical description – I need to have a good idea of the height, weight, hair and eye color.

3. Emotional nature – Are they quick tempered, are they maddeningly calm. How would they react to various stimuli.

4. What is their background – family life, birth order, career choice, education, social standing of them or their family.

5. How do they come across to other people. This can be different with each of your major characters and their interactions with others. Heroine might think he’s arrogant. His best friend considers him a great guy. The villain might think of him as a snob. All these things effect your characters.

6. I discover their secret. This is something they don’t want anyone to know.

The one thing I don't do is look for their Sun sign, Rising sign or Moon sign. I'm not sure why but my villains usually come to me pretty complete once I fill in the other blanks.