Write Every Day: Day 21
Nov. 21st, 2020 05:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_siobhan
It was only after I started sketching out background and character details for my main characters that I realized I need to do the same thing for the villain of the story - I don't have four main characters, I have five and since the villain is the main driver of the story that means I need to spend at least as much time on them as I do on the heroes. It seems obvious now, but it honestly didn't occur to me during my first draft.
There is a George RR Martin quote that I see a lot - "Nobody is a villain in their own story." My challenge is to create a villain that sincerely believes that there is a good reason for every choice they make.
My story has a clear cut bad guy, what about yours? Do you tend to write a villains or do you prefer conflict between equally well-meaning characters? Are you more inclined to make the conflict in your stories between a character and their environment, rather than against another person? Or do you avoid conflict at all, and find some other way to drive the story forward?
Day 21 Tally:
china_shop, alexseanchai, badly_knitted, sylvanwitch, shadaras, silveradept, brainwane, lferion, sakana17, nafs, cornerofmadness, yasaman, phrenk, auroracloud, shopfront, firecat, sanguinity, luzula, iberiandoctor, ysilmeDay 20:
china_shop, sylvanwitch, badly_knitted, luzula, alexseanchai, shadaras, nafs, sakana17, cornerofmadness, yasaman, lferion, phrenk, shopfront, firecat, sanguinity, silveradept, auroracloud, iberiandoctor, ysilmeDay 19:
china_shop, ysilme, shopfront, luzula, badly_knitted, sylvanwitch, alexseanchai, brainwane, silveradept, cornerofmadness, nafs, sakana17, yasaman, lferion, sanguinity, alexseanchai, phrenk, shadaras, auroracloud, iberiandoctorDay 18:
china_shop, alexseanchai, badly_knitted, luzula, sylvanwitch, shadaras, brainwane, marvelouscity, nafs, lferion, cornerofmadness, yasaman, sakana17, sanguinity, phrenk, firecat, ysilme, silveradept, auroracloud, iberiandoctorDay 17:
china_shop, badly_knitted, luzula, sylvanwitch, shadaras, alexseanchai, sanguinity, brainwane, nafs, cornerofmadness, sakana17, yasaman, lferion, marvelouscity, silveradept, phrenk, iberiandoctor, firecat, ysilme, auroracloudDay 16:
china_shop, badly_knitted, luzula, sylvanwitch, sanguinity, yasaman, brainwane, firecat, nafs, cornerofmadness, lferion, sakana17, phrenk, silveradept, iberiandoctor, shadaras, ysilme, auroracloudDay 15:
china_shop, alexseanchai, sylvanwitch, badly_knitted, trobadora, luzula, yasaman, sanguinity, shadaras, brainwane, nafs, sakana17, cornerofmadness, phrenk, lferion, silveradept, firecat, iberiandoctor, ysilme, auroracloudDay 14:
china_shop, ysilme, sylvanwitch, trobadora, badly_knitted, luzula, alexseanchai, shadaras, sanguinity, nafs, brainwane, cornerofmadness, yasaman, lferion, sakana17, phrenk, shopfront,silveradept, firecat, ysilme, auroracloudDay 13:
china_shop, shopfront, badly_knitted, luzula, shadaras, alexseanchai, sylvanwitch, nafs, cornerofmadness, lferion, yasaman, phrenk, sakana17, silveradept, ysilme, iberiandoctor, trobadora, sanguinity, auroracloudDay 12:
china_shop, sylvanwitch, shadaras, brainwane, silveradept, alexseanchai, thevetia, yasaman, zulu, sakana17, sanguinity, cornerofmadness, lferion, phrenk, badly_knitted, saki101, ysilme, iberiandoctor, trobadora, luzula, auroracloudDay 11:
china_shop, firecat, badly_knitted, luzula, sylvanwitch, shadaras, thevetia, sakana17, brainwane, sanguinity, yasaman, cornerofmadness, china_shop, nafs, lferion, saki101, alexseanchai, phrenk, firecat, shopfront, silveradept, zulu, trobadora, ysilme, iberiandoctor, auroracloudDay 10:
china_shop, badly_knitted, luzula, sylvanwitch, alexseanchai, shadaras, sanguinity, brainwane, nafs, firecat, yasaman, cornerofmadness, sakana17, saki101, lferion, phrenk, auroracloud, iberiandoctor, silveradept, thevetia, trobadora, ysilmeDay 9:
china_shop, shadaras, sylvanwitch, alexseanchai, sanguinity, saki101, nafs, yasaman, cornerofmadness, lferion, sakana17, phrenk, badly_knitted, ysilme, silveradept, solo, carenejeans, auroracloud, iberiandoctor, luzula, brainwane, trobadoraDay 8:
china_shop, sylvanwitch, badly_knitted, luzula, saki101, silveradept, sanguinity, shadaras, thevetia, brainwane, nafs, cornerofmadness, lferion, sakana17, yasaman, phrenk, alexseanchai, firecat, auroracloud, ysilme, solo, carenejeans, iberiandoctor, trobadoraDay 7:
china_shop, shopfront, falkner, badly_knitted, luzula, trobadora, sylvanwitch, shadaras, nafs, brainwane, sanguinity, lferion, yasaman, sakana17, phrenk, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, firecat, saki101, silveradept, auroracloud, ysilme, iberiandoctorDay 6:
china_shop, ysilme>, trobadora, luzula, badly_knitted, sylvanwitch, saki101, sanguinity, shadaras, brainwane, nafs, alexseanchai, cornerofmadness, yasaman, lferion, sakana17, phrenk, shopfront, silveradept, iberiandoctor, firecat, solo, carenejeans, auroracloudDay 5:
china_shop, badly_knitted, luzula, shadaras, sylvanwitch, nafs, sakana17, sanguinity, cornerofmadness, lferion, brainwane, saki101, phrenk, firecat, ysilme, shopfront, yasaman, carenejeans, houseof9cats, thevetia, robadora, silveradept, auroracloud, trobadoraDay 4:
china_shop, shopfront, luzulaalexseanchai, shadaras, badly_knitted, sylvanwitch, ysilme, sanguinity, saki101, silveradept, nafs, yasaman, thevetia, sakana17, cornerofmadness, lferion, phrenk, solo, iberiandoctor, firecat, brainwane, carenejeans, yasaman, auroracloud, trobadoraDay 3:
china_shop, alexseanchai, alexcat, sylvanwitch, sakana17, thevetia, nafs, lferion, cornerofmadness, phrenk, solo, badly_knitted, luzula, shadaras, yasaman, brainwane, trobadora, ysilme, sanguinity, silveradept, iberiandoctor, firecat, carenejeans, auroracloudDay 2:
china_shop, shadaras, falkner, luzula, badly_knitted, alexseanchai, trobadora, saki101, sylvanwitch, brainwane, thevetia, lferion, cornerofmadness, nafs, sakana17, yasaman, solo, phrenk, auroracloud, ysilme, sanguinity, silveradept, alexcat, iberiandoctor, firecat, carenejeansDay 1:
china_shop, sylvanwitch, luzula, badly_knitted, trobadora, falkner, alexseanchai, silveradept, shadaras, sanguinity, thevetia, nafs, cornerofmadness, lferion, sakana17, alexcat, marvelouscity, saki101, yasaman, solo, auroracloud, phrenk, shopfront, brainwane, dreamwriteremmy, ysilme, , iberiandoctor, firecat, carenejeansLet me know if I missed your name at any point. And participation is always open, so jump in with a comment any time.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-11-22 08:59 am (UTC)So anyway, when you get around to it, please add me to days 10-21 of the newest tally if it's not too much trouble!
Villains are such an interesting question. I haven't been that great at creating them, but consuming stories with really interesting and multi-faceted villains or quasi-villains has helped. I had a couple of them move into my head this summer and inform me that versions of them are going to be present in my novel, so then I've been trying to figure out what's going on with them. I'm really enjoying them, though it turns out one isn't planning to stay a villain. I suspect the other may be up for a slight redemption arc as well. They're really interesting for exploring why people do things they do, and how far they're willing to go - and how far not. I know that besides them I've got other forces causing conflicts, but I've had a harder time getting to know people representing those forces - I hope that as I go on in my story, they start turning into real personalities, too. In any case, it's really important to think about why the villains and antagonists do what they do, and why they think they're doing the right thing even if it involves some really bad activities.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-11-22 07:35 pm (UTC)I also tend to develop characters as I go along, so this is kind of a new approach for me - I'm hoping to make them more three-dimensional.