WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS

Hey! Asking for some writing advice here.

How does one write a villain exactly. In a very simple world with no superpowers and stuff how do you give them motivation. How do you make them slowly descent into villainy. Somehow when the villain actually thinks they're doing the right thing until the very end?

Thx love

There are a few different questions here that I'm going to try to to unpick.

I'll start with a brief overview of the connections between protagonist + antagonist, just because recognising them can be really useful in shaping your own ideas. Then I'll dive into motivation. So.

Antagonist + Protagonist = CONFLICT

If you know your protagonist well, then you have all the ingredients you need to write a great villain/antagonist for them too. Here is why.

Your villain/antagonist is, at the most basic fundamental starting point, something that is between your protagonist and what the protagonist wants/needs. As a very simple example, if your protagonist wants to make sure that everyone is free, then your antagonist is going to in some way be involved with making sure they are not free. Once you know what your antagonist needs to do in a story, then it's a lot easier to pose the question to yourself of 'okay, why would someone do that?'

Villains often reflect an opposite or warped view of the values and motivations that your protagonist has. They mirror or foil your main character. So, your antagonist's motivation will often be either opposite to the protagonist (e.g, your protagonist is motivated by selflessness, so your antagonist is motivated by selfishness in some way) or they will be the same motivation or value gone twisted (e.g. we both have people we love who we would do anything to protect...it's the villains way of acting on that motivation that makes them the villain, not the motivation.)

Of course, you can not have your antagonist + protagonist connected in this way. This is often the case if the source of conflict in your story is not another actual character or if you have a more generic villain. Lots of great stories have generic villains. It typically just means the villain is not a focus. It might be, like, about the friendships made in the journey instead.

Motivations:

I find it helpful to think of all my characters having two motivations.

The external story-specific motivation. This is whatever the antagonist is trying to achieve in your particular story and where things like genre and superpowers etc come into play.

The internal motivation that is more universal. The internal motivation is, while still specific to the character, the driving emotions and values. With a villain, that is often hatred or fear or lust for power because they're villains, but as noted earlier it can be a twisted form of love, or a strong sense of an injustice committed against them. This shapes the external motivation (e.g. 'lust for power = I want the throne, 'fear' = I'm going to kill or belittle or control what scares me so I don't have to feel scared anymore', justice might equal revenge or gaining power to ensure that a wrong is corrected. ) It could also be a bias or a prejudice that they're raised on driving them, that they genuinely believe in. Lots of possibilities!

I think this is true of people as well. We have our foundational core beliefs and desires (to be loved, to succeed, to be accepted whatever) and then we have the things we try to get in the real world to meet those needs (whether they really will or not).

Either way, it's the second one that comes into play with the slow descent into villainy and the villain thinking that they're doing the right thing until the end. Because, initially, their heart genuinely is not in a villainous place. They may actually be doing the right thing at the start. And then bad things happen. They are changed by the journey. They are a protagonist gone tragic.

We all experience emotions that can drive us to behave poorly; the desire for revenge or recognition, to ensure that the people we care about are safe, to get money so that we can provide for ourselves and others etc. None of us are without prejudice or privilege. Those things do not make you a villain, but they can be an excellent starting place for one.

Think about times when you've messed up. A villain is often an exaggerated version of that. You start pushing your own boundaries because there is something you really want/need and, depending on how far you push that...do you feel like you can still go back? Or do you feel like you might as well finish it after everything. At what point do you breathe for air, look up at what you've done, and go shit.

That's the villain who realises way too late that they're the villain.

Final note: I've been using antagonist and villain pretty interchangeably here...but they have slightly different connotations. Your antagonist does not have to be a villain to be effective. They just have to be an obstacle to the protagonist. E.g. if two people are going for the same dream job or trying to win a competition, the other competitors are antagonists to a certain extent, but that doesn't mean they're villainous or bad people. Whether you have an outright villain will depend on your story.

I hope this helps!

Some going further questions to take with you.

Is your villain trying to stop your protagonist from reaching their goal? Or is your protagonist trying to stop the antagonist from reaching their goal?

How does the villain's external goal in the story reflect the inner need? Note. They are aware of their external goal. Most people are not aware of the inner goal in the same way.

Do you know what you want your stories themes to be? (This doesn't have to be complicated and it's fine if you don't, that's what editing is for). Your protagonist and antagonist often weigh in on these themes. For example, your antagonist might be a path the protagonist could have gone down, if they made a different choice or something happened differently in their past.

Pose references pt 17 🌈

more bases for pride before the month ends 😭😭

The New Republic

Trump Wants Snitches to Report on DEI. There’s Just One Problem.

Donald Trump wants people to expose diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the federal government. The idea is already flopping.

The threat was loud and clear: Report your so-called “DEI” employees or else. What exactly “DEIA or similar ideologies” means is up in the air, but the message was out there. And so was the email address of the DEIA snitching hotline. Fake emails quickly started to roll in. ‘I don’t care, fuck these McCarthyite bastards,” one BlueSky user said, with an screenshot attached of an email to the hotline where he ironically reported Donald Trump and JD Vance for being “put in their positions solely because of their race and/or gender despite the fact that they are wholly unqualified for their jobs and, in some cases, have criminal records.” “Anyone have a script to fire off a billion e-mails an hour??” another user asked in the replies. “Anyone can email anything of any size even if it crashes the site,” one X user noted. The scope and effectiveness of this latest phase of Trump’s anti-DEI crusade remains to be seen.

"Luck Runs Out" from EPIC but Erin is Odysseus

Dive in Deeper: Humor

Hello, hello! Today’s post will be about humor!

“What? Humor? But I’m naturally funny!”

Ha, ha! Maybe you are but that doesn’t mean you don’t need advise on how to transfer your unique sense of humor into the pages of your amazing new book!

As a quick refresher let me remind everyone that this post is one of the rest that belong in the series 22 Essential Literary Devices.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

What Is Humor Writing?

Humor writing is a piece of fiction or nonfiction written with the express purpose of being funny.

How it strikes a humorous chord and the resulting laughs (or groans) it produces depends on the piece.

Three Types of Humor Writing

Humor novels. Humor novels are their own genre. These can be both fiction and nonfiction. In fiction, satirical novels fall in this category. Satire fiction uses humor, irony, and exaggeration to critique or expose a corrupt aspect of society. Two of literature’s most popular satire novels are George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) and Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (1961).

Short form. Short humor pieces usually take the form of a short story or piece of humor fiction. A short humor piece is usually a piece of writing under 1,000 words whose main purpose is to amuse.

Humor essay. Humor essays are usually a personal essay whose primary aim is to amuse rather than inform or persuade. Sometimes, writers mix fiction with nonfiction in humor essays for comedic effect.

Four Golden Rules for Writing Humor

Identify your style of humor. Everyone has a different sense of humor. We all find different things funny for different reasons. This is why it’s important that before you sit down and try to write funny things, you think about your own personal sense of humor and how you want to mine that to produce a piece of humor writing. Trying to mimic other people’s styles in creative writing won’t work. If you try and write in a style that is not your own, or if you try and force yourself to be funny in a way that you are not, the effort behind your writing will show. There are many kinds of humor. Look at this list of some popular types of humor and try and analyze where your individual strengths are and what you feel most comfortable with.

Observational/situational humor. This involves finding humor in mundane, everyday situations.

Anecdotal humor. This involves mining personal stories for humor.

Dark (or gallows) humor. Finding humor in darker, more unpleasant circumstances or aspects of life, like death, suffering, and unhappiness.

Self-deprecating humor. This involves you, the writer, making fun of yourself for comedic effect. Having a sense of humor about yourself endears you to others.

Satirical humor. Looking to the various faults of individuals, organizations, or society and mining them for comedic purposes.

Use the rule of three. The rule of three is a common rule in humor writing and one of the most common comedy writing secrets. It involves establishing a set pattern with two ideas and then subverting that pattern with a third, incompatible idea. For example: “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Doughnut? A better attitude?”

Mine humorous anecdotes from your real life. This is especially pertinent for humor essays. If you think about it, most of the funny things in your own life are things that our friends and family also find funny. These are the stories we tell over and over. These are the stories we use to bond or connect with others. Sometimes, we mine these stories for a more humorous effect. This is exactly what a humor essay does. Before you start writing, make sure you identify why a particular story or anecdote is funny. Is it funny to you because of your unique circumstances or understanding of a wider context? If so, it’s unlikely to be funny to your readers without that prior context.

Leverage cliches. While clichés are something most writers try to avoid, it’s important to recognize them. Humor relies in part on twisting a cliché—transforming or undermining it. You do this by setting up an expectation based on the cliché and then providing a surprise outcome. For example: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.” In humor writing, this process is called reforming.

Quick Tips For Writing Humor

Surprise the reader. Twist a cliché or undermine any expectation you’ve set up.

Put your funny expressions at the end of a sentence. Humor is often a release of tension, so the sentence builds that tension, and the pay-off happens most naturally at the end.

Use contrast. Are your characters in a terrifying situation? Add something light, like a man obsessing about his briefcase instead of the T-Rex looming behind him.

Find funny words. Some words are just funnier than others, so make a list of those that amuse you the most.

Try a “figgin” —a story element that promises to be something horrible or disgusting but which turns out to be humorous, and yet later has a pay-off, or a moment where the item becomes important to the plot.

Give them “sherbet lemon” —minor details you put in a text to make the reader smile. These small pulses are in the text just for humor; they don’t necessarily have a pay-off later.

There ya have it folks! Humor! Now you too can be even more funny and write it down through your writing!

If you find this helpful please follow, comment and reblog!

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WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;

NotionByRach - FREEBIES (workbook, notion template, games, challenges, etc.);

Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);

BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;

Charlotte Dillon - Research links;

Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;

One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;

One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!

Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;

National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;

Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;

Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;

The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;

Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;

QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);

Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;

Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;

I hope this is helpful for you!

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Just wanted to say I love your EPIC header, that line has been stuck in my head for days now :)

ANOTHER EPIC FAN! I’m obsessed with the new saga aaaaa

Suddenly I'm holding the world in my arms

At the gate for my flight home from visiting friends and there's a woman here with a service Shiba Inu. No pics because he has a Do Not Disturb vest and taking pics of strangers is illegal but I need to stress how ON DUTY this animal is. Ears up. Eyes doing Lazer scans of everything. Examining everyone who passes within 10ft like a security guard. Ass planted on her feet. I have never seen a dog with such intense chivalric guardian energy before. He has tiny eyebrows and they are FURROWED with concentration.