What Makes a Good Villain Heres Your 15-Item Checklist

What Makes a Good Villain Heres Your 15-Item Checklist What Makes a Great Villain? Your Checklist for Writing a Good Bad Guy Nothing makes your hero more heroic than a worthy opponent. So don’t shortchange your villain. Spend every bit as much time crafting him as you do your lead character, if you want your story to work. (Though I will use male pronouns throughout, this applies equally if your main character is a heroine or your villain is female.) Too many novelists give plenty of care to every other element of their story, then create what they consider a deliciously evil villain and wonder why the package seems to fall flat. Often it’s because the bad guy is only that: bad. He’s from Central Casting and might as well be starring in a melodrama, complete with black top hat, cape, and handlebar moustache so we readers can boo and hiss his every entrance. Every other character is real and nuanced and believable, but the second-most important lead spoils the reader’s whole experience. Need help writing your novel?Click here to download my ultimate 12-step guide. Motivation: The Secret Sauce for Creating a Great Villain Don’t let the word scare you. Motivation doesn’t have to be some nebulous theatrical concept tossed about by method actors trying to get into character. It simply means your bad guy needs a reason for being the person he has become. If he isn’t working, it’s because you’ve made him the villain only because he’s a bad person. He does evil things because he’s evil. That’s too easy. Change your thinking. Try something revolutionary. If you just can’t understand truly villainous people, try this: Put yourself in their place. â€Å"Wait!† you say. â€Å"I’d rather see myself as the hero, doing the right thing because it’s the right thing, rising to the challenge, saving the day.† Wouldn’t we all? Well, don’t knock this till you’ve tried it. You’re writing along, and you’ve come to the place where your villain needs to act in some evil way. Your virtual online writing coach has urged you to be sure he has proper motivation. What does this mean? He can’t be bad, do bad, cause trouble just because he’s the bad guy, so what’s made him this way? What’s behind it? You have to know before you have him do whatever it is he’s about to do. Take His Place â€Å"But I’m not a villain!† you say. â€Å"I’m no Dr. Moriarty or Dracula or Simon Legree.† Yes, you are. You have your days. You’ve learned to control yourself, or maybe you’re a person of faith and have found control outside yourself. But you know your true nature, your old nature. We novelists need to become our characters, from young to old, male to female, blue-collar worker to executive, and illiterate to educated. That’s part of the fun of it. Now take that further. When a friend takes credit for something you accomplished, what’s your first private thought? You get over it, I know. You probably say nothing and let it pass for the sake of the relationship, and that’s great. But dwell on that initial visceral reaction a moment. Someone you know well and love and trust lies to you, and there’s no question about it. You’re offended, hurt- crushed really. In fact, you’re infuriated. You bite your tongue because you’re a mature adult. Maybe when you cool down you’ll rationally confront the lie and get to the bottom of it. But for now, entertain that immediate first reaction. Where was your heart and mind then? I’m not telling you to become mean, rotten, and nasty when we’re all supposed to have grown out of that kind of thing by now. But I am telling you to tap into your dark side long enough to know what makes a good villain tick. What Makes a Good Villain? Villains are real people to whom terrible things have happened. Maybe in childhood, maybe in adolescence, maybe later. At some point, rather than learning and growing, their maturation process stunted and stalled. Roots of bitterness and anger sprang up in them. On the surface they may have many, if not most, of the same attractive qualities of your hero. But just beneath the surface fester the qualities you can access in yourself if you allow yourself to. While this may explain the reasons for your villain’s actions, it doesn’t excuse or forgive them. He’s still evil, and he must still be brought to justice. But giving him motivation will make him more than a cardboard cutout. So conjure a backstory for your villain. Make him real and believable and credible- even attractive in many ways. And while you’re writing your story, see how many boxes you can check off on this list of characteristics that pertain to your villain. The more that apply, the more successful your novel is likely to be. Because the more worthy his opponent, the more heroic your hero will appear. Villain Characteristics Checklist: He’s convinced he’s the good guy He has many likeable qualities He’s a worthy enough opponent to make your hero look good You (and your reader) like when he’s on stage He’s clever and accomplished enough that people must lend him begrudging respect He can’t be a fool or a bumbler He has many of the same characteristics of the hero, but they’re misdirected He should occasionally be kind, and not just for show He can be merciless, even to the innocent He’s persuasive He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants He’s proud He’s deceitful He’s jealous, especially of the hero He’s vengeful Need help writing your novel?Click here to download my ultimate 12-step guide. What would you add to this list of what makes a good villain? Tell me in Comments below.

How to Edit Quotes in an Essay

How to Edit Quotes in an Essay How to Edit Quotes in an Essay Quoting sources is vital when writing an essay. But what if the quote doesn’t fit the surrounding text? Or what if it’s too long? The good news is you can change a quote if you need to. But you also need to highlight your edits clearly in the text. Check out our guide below, then, to find out how to edit quotes in academic writing. Omitting Text from Quotations with Ellipses If a quote is too long, it may interrupt the flow of your writing. For instance: Smith (2007, p. 24) describes blancmange as â€Å"a sweet dessert that is generally made with milk or cream and sugar, although I also once had one that contained none of these ingredients, that has been thickened with gelatin, corn starch or Irish moss.† The middle part of this quote isn’t necessary for describing blancmange, so we might want to leave it out. To do this, we would use an ellipsis to show where we had cut something from the original source: Smith (2007, p. 24) describes blancmange as â€Å"a sweet dessert that is generally made with milk or cream and sugar†¦that has been thickened with gelatin, corn starch or Irish moss.† We now have the text we wanted to quote, but we haven’t had to include the middle bit. This makes it clearer and more succinct. Keep in mind, too, that you can write an ellipsis in several ways, including: In square brackets [†¦] Spaced (. . .) or unspaced (†¦) With a space before and after the ellipsis or without spaces As such, always check your style guide for advice on how to write ellipses. If you do not have a style guide, simply apply one type of ellipsis consistently. Changing or Adding Words in Quotations You can edit quotes by changing or adding words in order to: Integrate quoted text into your own writing Clarify the meaning of something Correct an error in the original text If you do any of these, use square brackets to show where you have changed the original text. For example, imagine we found the following in a book: Blancmange is delicious. The first time I ate it, I was in love. We might then want to quote the second sentence. But without the first sentence, it wouldn’t be clear what the â€Å"it† refers to. As such, we could edit the second sentence so that it works by itself: Smith (2007, p. 31) says, â€Å"The first time I ate [blancmange], I was in love.† It is now clear what Smith is saying without having to include the first sentence, but the reader can also see where we have changed the quote. Marking Errors in Quotations Finally, what if you don’t want to change an error in a quote? Or what if it contains something that looks like an error, such as an old-fashioned spelling? In cases like these, you can use the Latin term â€Å"sic† to show that you’ve kept something non-standard from the original text. This is short for sic erat scriptum, which translates to â€Å"thus was it written.† Usually, to use â€Å"sic† like this, you would place it in square brackets: His writings were riddled with errors due to his addiction, which he described as â€Å"a terrible but delishus [sic] shame† (Smith 2017, p. 2). The reader will then know that the spelling â€Å"delishus† comes from the quoted text, so it is not a transcription error. Unless you have a good reason for preserving an error, though, it is usually better to fix it and put the correction in square brackets instead. Summary: How to Edit Quotes in an Essay If you need to edit quotes in your writing, keep the following in mind: Use an ellipsis to indicate omissions in the text. Check your style guide for how to format ellipses (e.g., in brackets or not, spaced or unspaced). Mark additions or changes by placing the edited text in square brackets. Use the term â€Å"[Sic]† to show that you’ve duplicated an error from a source. This will ensure the reader doesn’t think you’ve made a mistake yourself. Different style guides may vary on these rules, so make sure to check yours if you have one. And don’t forget to have your work proofread.