Villains

In any good story, there is an opposing force with which the hero must contend. Bad guys.

I've written a few villains and have found that they vary in personality as much as heroes do. I've written a sanity-challenged boyfriend, an ultra rich deceiver, a confused former friend of the hero, a vengeful and scheming former student, and a greedy thief.

Any interesting character has a few good character traits as well as some flaws. The hero's flaws and the villain's good traits make them more real and believable.

When I'm writing about a villain, I'm reminded of the cartoons I used to watch as a kid. The putty tat ran after the tiny bird, but never had enough luck to get what he wanted. Sometimes the bird was incased in claws with sharp teeth bared and ready for the kill, but the bird would always escape.

My guess is readers know before they start the story that they will encounter this same phenomenon over and over. The hero finds trouble, escapes trouble, finds worse trouble, and escapes again.

The fun is seeing what they're escaping from and how they do it. I loved watching the MacGuyver shows and Home Alone. They used whatever they had around them to build a defense against the villain.

My heroes look forward to their ultimate success, and so do the villains. However, I write happy endings. Sorry, villains.

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