Writing problems Thread: [3990]

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Post nr: 3990
Thread: [3990]
Author: Jabbress (Plese join The Last Battel Please!!!!!!) Posted: (6596 days ago)
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

In my book The missing peace council One of my characters,Lord Bladen Krest turn against the group and then go evil again. I need some help on this. He has a great history and i want it to slip into him becoming evil and then good again. 

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Post nr: 3997
Thread: [3990]
Author: Kiddalee (I'm here. Bwahahaha!) Posted: (6596 days ago) Previous in thread: 3990 by Jabbress
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

  Maybe it would help to try thinking a little less about how good or evil the guy is, and just let him drive his destiny. He is the character doing all these things, after all.

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Post nr: 4004
Thread: [3990]
Author: Jabbress (Plese join The Last Battel Please!!!!!!) Posted: (6595 days ago) Previous in thread: 3997 by Kiddalee
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

THat would work wont it. Alright thank you.

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Post nr: 4053
Thread: [3990]
Author: dmeredith Posted: (6585 days ago) Previous in thread: 3990 by Jabbress
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

I guess it it is important first of all to see evil and good as a continuum rather than a static alignment. For realism it is necessary to explore the character's motivations for the way he behaves and then carefully detail the event(s) that lead him/her to change his outlook on his/her own behavior. No one wakes up and says "I think I' going to be evil today" and very often, those who are percieved by others as evil see themselves as justified and seek to explain the necessity or extenuating circumstances leading to their "evil" behavior.

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Post nr: 4723
Thread: [3990]
Author: Xyriach (New name: xyriach) Posted: (6513 days ago) Previous in thread: 4567 by Child of God
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

Making a good villan is one of writings challenges.

I always find that to create a character that you want people to percieve as the "bad guy" the majority of the work goes before you actually introduce your character.

Take Hannable Lector for example. Before you even meet him you're told stories of his behaviour, he's locked in an assylum, Starling has a claustrophobic elevator ride down to see him where she's shown a picture of a nurse he disfigured and how calm he was when he did it. She has to go through multiple gates and walk solitary down a long character of crazies before she see's him standing perfectly still and presentable in the middle of his cell. Yet he is polite and courteous. The whole scene of Lectors introduction is unsettling which reinforces the characterisation of him as the villan.

Because of the effort made in presenting this character, Lector made up less than 20 minutes of the movie, but stole the show. In the book Thomas Harris has more time to work on the character, but the end result was the same.

An evil character is one that the protagonist is fearful of yet must defeat. A strong characterisation will mean a lot to your story, but an archetypal villan has one very basic rule to follow. They must oppose that which your protagonist stands for.

I'd say think of the villans you've admired most in books and movies and see how they were represented. What was it that made them appear "evil" and keep that message reinforced in the character for the duration.

Villans are always more theatrical than heroes, so where a hero must prove their virtue to an audience, the villan can be built in imagery and emotion before they ever reveal themselves to the audience. Don't forget the old horror axiom, "its not what you show, its what you don't show".

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Post nr: 4724
Thread: [3990]
Author: RiddleRose (Anyone still here?) Posted: (6513 days ago) Previous in thread: 4723 by xyriach
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

if they like causing pain, (emotional, mental, or physical) that sometimes makes them even worse. especially if they're the type of villain who finds out a person's mental or emotional weakness and then exploits it ruthlessly. especially if they do it in such a way that their victim doesn't know what's happening, the victim might even like the villain, and the villain might be kind to the victim. the villain would gain the trust of the victim, then use that trust to undermine the victim's security, sense of self, ego, life, whatever. that sort of thing makes the villain a bit creepy and really really hateable

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Post nr: 4727
Thread: [3990]
Author: Xyriach (New name: xyriach) Posted: (6513 days ago) Previous in thread: 4724 by RiddleRose
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

I love the way that riddlerose put that, but don't forget, that the audience doesn't have to know what you know.

If your chapter opens: "His eyes let in the little shards of sunlight that darted through the break in the blinds, but even as he woke he couldn't help but remember the dream that he had Joe exactly where he wanted him. So long he'd wanted him where he had him now, and even the apparently delightful ray of sunshine that had started his day would stop him from what he had fixed in his mind now." Joe is clearly the protagonist, but its the antagonist that we are feeling for here. Make him hate things the audience will love, I've kept is basic, he hate ssunlight, but you can see my point. Paint a picture. Riddlerose hit the nail on the head when she (I assume she) defined it as the villan and victim. These roles are immensely important when you're planning your villan. (I apologise if I keep going on about this, but I love writing villans, bad guys are always so much more fun to write for!)

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Post nr: 4746
Thread: [3990]
Author: dmeredith Posted: (6508 days ago) Previous in thread: 4727 by xyriach
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

Also again, the best villians are 3 dimentional. i.e they sound like real people with real human motivations for the bad things they do. I think these tend to be a bit more interesting than the "Mwahahahah I'm doin EVIL!" variety.

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Post nr: 4873
Thread: [3990]
Author: RiddleRose (Anyone still here?) Posted: (6483 days ago) Previous in thread: 4746 by dmeredith
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

heh yeah... that kind usually comes across as kind of silly... XD

Next in thread: [4874]
 

Post nr: 4874
Thread: [3990]
Author: Kiddalee (I'm here. Bwahahaha!) Posted: (6483 days ago) Previous in thread: 4873 by RiddleRose
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

That kind is usually only in parodies these days.

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Post nr: 4883
Thread: [3990]
Author: dmeredith Posted: (6481 days ago) Previous in thread: 4874 by Kiddalee
Subject: Help!! Trying to make a characte evil

Well, I'll amend your thought to say that is only used EFFECTIVELY as parody these days. There are still a number of weak stories and movies in particular that have really weak villians. Go watch any generic horror movie for example.

Next in thread: [4884], [4885]


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