Hi, this is my first post on this site since i have joined. I've been reading around a lot so I've picked up a lot of tips. Though I am having a plot issue. I want my main character to be a villain of sorts. I want him to destroy the world about half way through my book, but I am having trouble leading up to that event. It is a lot harder to follow a villain through a story than I thought it would be. Can anyone help me out please? Note: I haven't full developed many characters yet, could that be part of the issue?
I think it could be. If there is a villain, there also needs to be a counterpart. Is there a good guy/girl, someone who opposes the villain? This will drive the story forward and create conflict and tension. How is the villain planning on destroying the world? Is your story about his scheming and plotting? Do you have some interesting sub-plots worked out? Just some questions to consider. It's difficult to give specific advice as I don't know what the story is about.
I would suggest outlining and developing characters. Another issue is do you have a hero opposed to the villain? And perhaps some freewriting. For ten minutes you must continue writing whatever pops into your head, your pen cannot stop moving.
Make your anti-hero (the name for a protag who does villainous things) interesting and relatable. If we pick up the first page and think "what a jerk," lots of readers (not necessarily myself, but lots of readers nontheless) will put the book down. Make the MC someone people can relate to, THEN show his evil side -- by the time he blows the world up people will be rooting for him.
Thanks Thank you everyone for your help, I look forward to my time spent on this forum. The tips and advice are excellent.
Hm, I know I want him to blow up the world but I'm still trying to find a good reason for WHY he destroys the world...I can explain a little about the character if that might help....
Dray, That would actually help quite a bit. If the story is somewhat absurd, you have a lot of leeway - I remember in "Schrodinger's Cat", the world was blown up because the President was a bit tense that day and decided to pressed the Big Red Button. In "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy", the world was destroyed to make way for an interstellar highway. Of course, in both those cases the destruction was almost incidental. SC had a multiverse to work with, while in HG the destruction was a MacGuffin. As your destruction seems to be a central element of the story, I'm not advocating such a simple treatment. Just throwing out the idea that even big events do not always need detailed (or even plausible) causes. -Frank
It would help if you told us what kind of story you are writing. You have to establish his motivations and reasoning within his your own mind or on paper. Moreover his reason has to be one that the reader can sympathize with... Is it to do with love? Is it to do with jealousy & the unfairness of the world? Is his world suffering like a dying loved one & needs to be put out of its misery?If it is a comical tale then it could be for any absurd reason you can think of but in most cases it is all about the central character. Not knowing how to progress the story is a symptom of insufficient character conception. Spend a few hours writing not the story but the character himself.
Drayela, I believe that whatever you're writing is ultimately about you. Even if you're writing a research paper you picked the topic, chose the sources, organized it, and concluded it only as you could do. That goes triple for fiction writing since everything comes from your imagination. It sounds like you had a flash of inspiration and saw this character destrying the world, and that's it. Now, you have to go backwards and ask yourself, "Why is that cool and dramatic?" Once you have that, then you have the theme of your story. The theme is the underlying philosophy of your story. For instance, none of my stories are about what is written on the page, but they're about some philosophical issue I have with the world. I bet you have something like that and that's why your character wants to destroy. Once you figure that out answering: who, what, when, where, why, and how will be the the chapters/substance of your novel. I would enjoy talking about this, so please write back!
You have a squirrel?! Does it get picked on by the red squirrels? Those little brick-colored pests are big meanies to gray squirrels. This has a point, believe it or not. Why do the red squirrels pick on the gray species? Aside from their vanity, I'm guessing because of food availability. This is how to write from a villain's perspective; make somebody steal his figurative food, and he'll do things that are less than admirable.
I recently moved to Colorado and discovered the largest breed called, The Fox Squirrel. I grew up around grey and red ones and these guys are much different. They're very smart! Within days of meeting the ones around my place they responded to hand gestures and the one in the photo responds to his name: Leon. I do this certain series of whistles and they will come running a great distance. Also, they have a little language of tail flicking and little noises that if imitated make them do things. They seem at least as smart as a cat. It's awesome and even my wife, who does not like animals, is enjoying interacting with the little guys. Needless to say, they're eating like kings for all the fun they're supplying. Red Squirrel Question: From what I recall, they're small, rare, and cute and my hypothesis is they think they're hot.
In Michigan, we've got all three. Lots and lots of red squirrels. They get pushed around by the Greys. Maybe it's like gang warfare. Near Rennat, the Red gang controls the nut supply, while it's the Greys up here. Fox squirrels were always like the lone, bad-arse anti-hero kicking everybody's fluffy tails. -Frank
I noticed the Fox guys are like capitalists, the biggest one always steals the nuts. Maybe the Reds are commies?
OK, so I guess I understand what your saying...I have to figure out why I wanted to make him destroy the world in the first place...hm...I guess it is because recently I have had this dull take on life for the last four years. The whole teenage life sucks sort of thing I guess...when I first developed the character though and I mean like six years ago developed, he was just evil. He was a cruel harsh dictator who had a bad past full of Pain, Suffering and Death and wanted to destroy anything and everything because it made him feel better. It made him feel like he had a purpose...that was the original character...
Explore that past pain, suffering, and death. What exactly did the character go through? How did he feel? Sometimes the best way to write a character in the now is to know who they were in the past. This does not mean you need to write copious amounts of information about his tragic past in the actual novel, but you as the writer need to know him on a personal level. Once the background is developed the present begins to click. Best of luck!
Alright, um, would writing a biography be a good way to go maybe? I mean like a two or three pager, nothing big or anything...
Sometimes I think that teenagers are angry because the went from a child mind to an adult mind very quickly and can see the world's problems very clearly. Adults like to pretend that everything's okay and can develop a slave mind very easily in that they find themselves agreeing with all the bad things to avoid being consumed by them. So, I think you should write down all the reasons why the world sucks, as you see it, and have you main character use it as his justification. Such a story may act as a "catharsis" (look it up) for other people who feel as you do. Ironically, that would make the world a better place.
Every writer has a way that works best for them. If you feel a biography is necessary or would be helpful than you should do that. More or less though, the main concern should be why the character is doing what he's doing. Cause and effect is important. So for you the main question is: Why does he want to destroy the world? Start listing and see what you come up with. Maybe it's something in his past, maybe something happened recently, or maybe (and probably most likely) it's a little bit of both. Once you target the reason for this character's anger it'll be easier to develop a story around him. For example, in a very general sense lets say his parents treated him poorly as a child. This treatment made him angry. Part of this anger makes him want to destroy the world. Break that down further. What did his parents do to make him so angry? Then that can be broken down further, and so on and so forth. Do this for each reason you come up with and see which ones you not only like the best, but can be developed the most.
OK, thanks again for the advice everyone in case I haven't said thanks before. I Love the ideas and I have some re reading to do so I can besure to try them all out!
