In every fiction, there is always an antagonist. However, there are many sides to a villain. Here are points that you need to be aware of when writing a villain. Write convincingly! 1. A villain, nevertheless, is a human Even if your villain is a superhuman such as black spiderman, your villain must remain a human. In every humane way possible, you twist this character and voila a villain! Admit it, as a writer, you want to create a convincing villain. A convincing villain is a logical and humane villain. A human is gray. A human is neither white nor black therefore a villain, too, is gray. They should be written as humane as possible or at least, they need to have a strong reason and purpose to fall into the evil pit. 2. A villain is confident and ambitious It is common that human bears a huge ambition to the point that he does not lend his ears at all to any form of disagreement. They believe what they are doing is righteous and nothing is going to stop them from doing it. In his eyes, the world is wrong. Cruel? yes. Humane? yes. 3. They are talented and capable Just like how protagonist has talents and special abilities, the villain must have those redeeming talents as well! Otherwise, how are they going to compete? A human is complicated with pluses and minuses, give them to the villain and let the cat-dog race commence! 4. Do not hide the villain for too long There are three types to hide a villain. Either you hide him throughout the story in your book until the last moment, you show him bit by bit throughout the story, or you show him in the beginning and hide him during 80% of the storyline. Each of these methods can give different impression to readers although it ultimately falls on how you deliver the character in the story. If you hide him throughout the story in your book until the last moment, your story will fall into the typical cartoon plot. It might give enough thrill for your readers but when it reaches the peak of the unveilling, BAM! A stranger character! Will you be disappointed or will you sigh? This type is difficult to pull off simply because it is easy to apply. If you don't deliver the story well, it will not induce your readers with thrill. If you show him bit by bit throughout the story, it will give thrill and doubt going around(if you like misleading your readers and make them scream at the end). However, it doesn't mean this type has no challenge. If you tend to put spotlight on him too much(although not as much as the protagonist), the readers might pick up all the hints you try to foreshadow and guess the villain in the end! While it is not a bad thing, we all want to provide a bit more challenge to readers, right? If you show him in the beginning and hide him during 80% of the storyline, it will serve as a good distraction for readers and also a surprise in the end. However, some readers are sharp and might pick up your foreshadows! No problem, you can still cover it with the way you deliver the story. Writing a convincing villain is not easy and it certainly takes a whole lot of effort to construct a humane character. Hopefully these four points can help you shape the villain of your dreams!
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