Tuesday, December 16, 2008

THE VILLAIN

When you write romantic suspense, you want the reader to fall in love with the hero. He has to be sexy and appealing. Not necessarily wildly handsome. But he’s got to have something that will connect strongly with the reader.

The other major male character in the story is often the villain. And you’ve got more leeway with him. He can be handsome or downright ugly. He can be charming or grating. He can be outwardly friendly to the h/h or outwardly hostile.

But you’re walking a fine line with this guy. (Usually he IS male, although you can have some very compelling female villains.) If you make him pure evil, then he’s going to be less interesting to the reader. Still, you want the reader to be rooting for his downfall.

I try to give my villains a background that helps the reader understand how they got so bad. I think one of the best examples of this is the killer in Thomas Harris’s RED DRAGON. He had a harelip and a speech impediment, so the kids made fun of him when he was little. And he was raised by (I think) a grandmother who was absolutely horrible to him. In the middle of the book, when he has a love affair with an innocent woman, you’re half hoping that he can go away and have a happy life with her, even when you know that’s going to be impossible.

Right now, I’m writing a Berkley book with a powerful bad guy who had a miserable childhood which makes you understand exactly why he turned out the way he did. The hard part here is that–um–how can I say this without giving away the secret of this book? He’s going to be the hero of another book. So I’m walking a fine line with him. He has to be bad enough to make a formidable enemy now. Then the reader has to understand how he gets rehabilitated. It’s an interesting challenge.

Which brings me to the question–what do you want to see in a villain? And how do you feel about a villain ending up being the hero of another book?

Rebecca

14 comments:

  1. Rebecca, finally someone who understands; the villain must be as intriguing as the hero/heroine whether male or female. Some of the best books I've read is where the villian is as detailed as the main characters. As for the villian finding redemption in a later book? Sounds wonderful!

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  2. The villian as the hero in another book is excellent! I like to see villian's evil but not to the point where they torture. This reminds me of my favorite show. DEXTER!

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  3. Rebecca, I will definitely be adding this one to my to be read list. I think it would be great having the villain as a hero in another book. I like reading from the villain's point of view too.

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  4. Rebecca, I like the idea of the villain becoming a hero in another book. The bad guy turns good so to speak.

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  5. Tiffany, it's DRAGON MOON, coming out in Novemember from Berkley

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  6. I like knowing why a villain became a villain but sometimes that not possible. I'm ambivalent about a villain becoming a hero in another book. I have a hard time in believing in redemption of many of the villains in books....especially Intrigues.

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  7. Well, as I said, it's not an Intrigue. So I've got more room for character development.
    Rebecca

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  8. I like the idea of a villain becoming a hero!

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  9. I want to see where the hero is coming from and why or how he turned into the person he is. It would be interesting for a villain to become a hero and see if he manages to get our sympathy.

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  10. I like a villian who is not totally evil but he has to mean to do harm somehow. I have read a few villians to heroes and I usually like seeing the character redeem himself.

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  11. The bad guy is not so bad after all----excellent!

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  12. Sometimes its really cool to see a villain redeemed by the love of a good woman

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  13. I think it would be great having the villain as a hero in another book; no problem with that.
    The villain needs to be a grouch, unfriendly to some, a poor neighbor always complaining to the others about nothing, etc. I also want to see him change his attitude during the story.

    yourstrulee at sasktel dot net

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  14. Rebecca,

    Thanks, I will make sure I add that one to my to be read list.

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