This question came up today on a loop I’m part of, and I thought I’d share (with Nicki’s permission) both question and answer because they might help someone else too.
There I was, all happy and excited that a short scene from the villain’s POV (628 words) just flowed like water. Until I started pondering how evil came shockingly naturally…
*sheepish look* Should I be concerned?
Nicki
No, Nicki. You should not be concerned!
I’m coming to realise more and more that the villain in any book—whether contemporary romance or thriller—is vital to the success and saleability of the work.
If you don’t have a villain—a really nasty, wicked, gut-wrenching son-of-a-supermarket-salesman—then you’re short-changing your reader by evading maximum conflict.
I’m not saying a villain has to be a mustache-twirling git in a cape and glow-in-the-dark Y-Fronts. It can be the heroine’s own emotions, or the situation she finds herself in, or the hero, or a thousand other things. And the villain can change depending on the scene you’re writing.
But (and this is the key) there has to be a villain—an antagonist of some description—in every scene. If there isn’t then all you have is someone doing something for no good reason and against no opposition—and therefore creating no tension and no reason for a reader to give a damn.
So, by all means, draw out your inner villain!
Gracie
(Okay, I had some flak over the glow-in-the-dark Y-Fronts. But hey. If it gets the point across…)
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January 25th, 2012 at 15:23
I’d be more worried if the villian was wearing a glow in the dark thong
January 25th, 2012 at 15:40
Now **there** is a picture that could etch itself permanently on the retina.
Thanks, Julieann.
Gracie