Tip #12 Villains

Villains are the most important part of a story. Without a good villain the story just won’t work. Villains create the conflict, drive forward the story, and are the main enemy of the protagonist. If you write a villain wrong, it can ruin the flow of the entire story. I know I say that a lot but there are just several ways that certain elements can make or break a story. Now moving on, there is a difference between a villain and an antagonist. Think about it like squares and rectangles. All villains are antagonists but not all antagonists are villains. The villain is the source of the conflict for a story. The villain drives the plot forward and is at odds against the protagonist. A good villain is one you enjoy and want to see fail. An incompetent villain will fail to engage the reader as they will only be wondering how such an idiotic villain ever got into a position of power in the first place. Villains need to be a presence of great power in the world you are creating. Depending on the story it could be a lot of power, or only a little bit, however a villain with no power poses no threat and as such the only thing a weak villain accomplishes is weakening the story. Antagonists can work for the villain, but the main villain does not need to be forgiven or made into a protagonist. A villain can work as just a wall for the protagonists to overcome. Heroes are very similar to villains in this respect, but I will go into that more next week. Villains give a sense of urgency and conflict to the story they are in. Failing to make an engaging villain can kill a story before it even begins. That’s all for this week. I hope you found it informative as always.