Even Villains Fall in Love - Guest post by Liana Brooks

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am excited. Liana Brooks has written a book called: Even Villains Fall in Love. Who wouldn't want to read this?

Seriously.

Let me tell you the story of a little boy whose parents loved him very much. He grew up, went to school, graduated, had a job, and died. The end!

Not exciting enough? Let me try again.

Once there was a little boy whose parents loved him very much, but then they were attacked by a wicked villain bent on on world domination and the loving parents died defending their only son. The boy lived. As he grew up the same wicked man tried to destroy him, but the boy survived, went to school, made friends, and eventually saved the world before settling down to raise a family.

It's amazing what a difference a villain makes!

Every book you've ever loved would be nothing without the villain. Harry Potter would be just another boy at school. Lord Of The Rings would have been about some Hobbits in a village talking for three books. Hunger Games wouldn't exist at all.

A hero can't exist in vacuum. Without a villain a hero can't exist at all. A hero is someone who distinguishes themself from everyone else by doing what no one else is willing (or capable) or doing.

A reader needs a villain too. Many books have multiple protagonists (consider the split narrative of Lord Of The Rings), but the Big Bad Villain unites readers against a common foe. You might be torn over whether you like Legolas or Aragorn better, but you can be united in your hatred of Sauron.

And I think it's time to show the villains a little love.

The best antagonists are well-rounded characters with motives, feelings, desires, and fears. A well written villain is an individual that could almost be a hero, but at some point in life they decided to go the other way. A well written villain is someone we can almost sympathize with.

As the Harry Potter story unfolds the reader learns the back story of Snape, an on-again-off-again antagonist in the series (although not the Big Bad Himself), and who doesn't feel a little bit of sympathy for Snape? He was bullied, he was abused, he was rejected by the woman he loved, is it any wonder that he's now a grumpy middle aged man?

In the end, Snape becomes a hero. He makes the one choice that tips him from the side of evil to the side of good. Some days, the only difference between a hero and a villain is that one choice made at a crucial moment.

In EVEN VILLAINS FALL IN LOVE super villain Doctor Charm is just that kind of villain, one with a choice. He can pursue his plans for world domination, or save the woman he loves who just happens to be a a superhero.

Every story needs a villain, and even villains fall in love, so whose side are you on? Are you a villain or a hero?

I met Liana on Twitter and her tweets never disappoint. She was born in San Diego, California. Years later she was disappointed to learn that The Shire was not some place she could move to, nor was Rider of Rohan an acceptable career choice. Studying marine biology so she could play with sharks seemed to be the only alternative. After college Liana settled down to work as a full-time author and mother because logical career progression is something that happens to other people. When she grows up, Liana wants to be an Evil Overlord and take over the world.

In the meantime, she writes sci-fi and SFR in between trips to the beach. She can be found wearing colorful socks on the Emerald Coast, or online at www.lianabrooks.com.

Follow the rest of her blog tour for Even Villains Fall in Love.

How to Fix Boring Villains

On Tuesday, I talked about how to give life to boring characters. But villains are a special breed. Yes, they need to have goals, strengths, weaknesses, and they need to be unique, but what else?

The Faces of Evil is a fantastic article from Murderati that discusses what people expect from a villain, and what your villain should be. He/she doesn't have to be a wiley, genius, mastermind. Your serial killer can be a regular person, just a little twisted. Your antagonist can simply be the politician that is running against your protagonist.

BUT Creating Villains People Love to Hate takes a little more than standing in the way of your protagonist. Make them credible, logical, and believable.

What Every Writer Needs to Know About Plot and Structure, Part 4

Beginnings:

Grab your reader with a killer opening line. Some may tell you never to open with dialogue, others will tell you...

well, there's an amusing article (more of a rant) that lists a number of ways you should not start a story. Read A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: How Not to Write a Story.

Joe Konrath makes some excellent points and explains each one (for the most part).

So how should you start a story?

• First and foremost: introduce conflict. Conflict is the bread and butter of fiction. Without it, fiction is boring. If no one in your first scene has a need, then you need to cut that scene. Start somewhere else.
• You also need to show (and I do mean SHOW) your character(s). Just the main ones for now. You don't want to overwhelm your readers with a bunch of characters at once. You do want them to connect to the characters that will be central to your story.
• Show genre in your beginning. If you're writing fantasy, show some magic or paranormal elements to give your reader the right expectations. It doesn't have to be big. I once started a story with a paragraph about a bully with some unusual talents. (Making my heroine's hair stand on end, for example.)
• Sensory details. Imagery. Give the readers details. There's a piece of paper on the counter. Is it rolled up? Folded? How big is it? Is it notebook paper? Parchment? A sticky note? Give smells. (That's a hard one, but it can instantly bring your characters into the setting.) The trick is to provide as much setting in the fewest words possible. If you give too much all at once, you'll boor your readers. Sneak those details in as you unfold the plot, character, and conflict.

Middles:

This is the hard part. The part where all your ideas have to come together, in an interesting way, to set you up for your ending.

You needs lots of conflict here. Make your characters work hard. Make them suffer. I know it's hard, but trust me, as soon as things start to go right for your characters, your readers will put your book down. You need to constantly be stirring the pot.

If you've read my posts on sentence lite, you'll know what each scene (whether beginning, middle, or end) needs: protagonist (that has needs and is interesting), antagonist (who also has needs and is interesting), conflict (how their needs conflict with each other), a setting, and a twist. The twist is something unexpected. It moves the story forward.

In Heidi Thomas' article Prop Up Your Sagging Middles, she discusses some key questions you should ask yourself about each scene.

If you find that your middles are slim and/or your word count is too low, you'll love Dani Greer's article on Plumpers.

Throughout your book, you'll need strong scenes. This is crucial. I have to recommend Holly's Create Page-Turning Scenes Clinic. (Yes, I know I recommend her a lot, but she's the best I've found.)

Endings:
This is where pantsers seem to have the most trouble. If you plan out you novel well, know where your novel's pulse is, and know your themes, then you should already know your ending. All you have to do is write to it.

But, here are some pointers:
Your ending, wherever it is, whatever happens, needs to connect back to your beginning. Somehow. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. If there isn't a way to connect your ending to the first three pages of your story, then maybe you didn't begin in the right place.

At the beginning, you made your reader a promise. You told them, "This is what the book is about." Now you have to deliver on that promise.

For example, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone begins with the headmaster and a teacher discussing the fate of the boy who lived. How does it end? The boy who lived fought against the same villain and lived again. Some consider the first chapter to be more of a prologue, but it's still there in the second chapter. Uncle Vernon notices a number of strange happenings that are related to (surprise!) the boy who lived and the celebration of his conquest over the dark lord. Trust me. Your beginning needs to be similar to your ending.

BUT

Your characters need to be different. They need to change throughout the course of the story. Their needs changed, they've learned something about themselves, conquered a weakness, whatever. They can't be the same person they were on page one. Otherwise, there's no point in telling the story.

For clarification, I've posted a video on how endings are like beginnings here.

If you want to read this series from the beginning, here is Part 1 of What Every Writer Needs to Know About Plot and Structure.

How I Created A Much Better Villain

I made up all my lost words yesterday, and though I'm a day behind schedule, I must say I’m very pleased. The conflict is much tighter and my villain's motivation is much clearer.

This guy is more sympathetic, and yet more abominable than he could have been if I had done it the way I had planned. There’s a lot more tension, too.

Rachel’s doing some crazy stuff to protect the people she loves, which will help me with my ending. Her main concern is Nathan at this point, but we’ve seen that she cares deeply for her mother's safety (and her mom’s boyfriend) as well. She’s not always acting logically, but she’s acting valiantly and is learning from her mistakes.

This is very exciting. I can’t wait to see the finished product!


Side Note: I once asked 'What makes a Villain a Villain?'. My favorite answer came from Raquelle who said: "the best villain is one who convinces others that he is no villain at all."

Pay Attention to ALL Your Characters

I just deleted over 2,000 words. Why would I do this when I’m having trouble getting enough words as it is? Because I messed up. Big time.

You see, when I get started writing, I just go with it. I get in the head of my POV character and I fly. It usually works out. I know the general direction the story needs to take and I have a (albeit vague) idea of what I want to accomplish in each scene (in my defense, I go back and make the scene tighter). My muse likes freedom and when I give it to her, I’m usually rewarded with some neat twists that I hadn't been expecting.

But there are some minuses. Aside from the aforementioned wandering that I sometimes catch myself doing, I don't frequently get in the heads of my other characters. I figure out each character at the beginning--discover their motives, needs, personality--but rarely do I stop and think, "How wil so-in-so react to this?"

And today it cost me 2,000 words and about 2 hours of writing and planning. Maybe more. Chapter 12 has been demolished and I’m having to start from ground zero. All because I didn’t use my villain to his full potential. He was being way too nice, only attacking when convenient and never really threatening anyone, just trying to be scary.

Now, he has an army waiting outside my heroine's home, ready to attack her mom as soon as she steps over the protective threshold of her home. And she won’t even see it coming.

For a brief synopsis, see my earlier post: My Current Project