Gillian Bronte Adams

YA Epic Fantasy Author

Villainy 101: Villains Are People Too

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How To Avoid a Protagonist-Centric Villain

Hello again. This is your friendly neighborhood Spy speaking.

In my extended stint as an unwelcome guest at the Academy of Ultimate Villainy, I met quite a few villains. Minor villains. Minions. Evil Henchmen. Super Villains. Criminal Masterminds. The works.

And if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that villains are not the mindless embodiment of evil that we think they are. At least not the good—bad?—ones. Villains are people too. Ever held a conversation with one? It’s not easy, I’ll admit. But once you can get past the typical shallow conversations about how magnificent they are, and who they’ve killed today, and their evil plans or hatred of the heroes, you’ll discover that villains are not so very different from you … though with different life plans and certain moral ambiguities.

Villains possess goals, motives, dreams, beliefs … just like anyone else. And their personal goals drive all of their actions.

villains-are-people-too

A handbill printed by the Society for Villain’s Rights.

One common mistake among fledgling novelists is the tendency to make their villains protagonist-centric.What does that mean?

A protagonist-centric villain exists for no other purpose than to make life difficult for the hero/heroine. Their one aim in life is to stop/kill/humiliate/embarrass/torture the hero/heroine.

What is their motivation? Oh, just because they enjoy seeing the hero/heroine stopped/killed/humiliated/embarrassed/tortured/etc.

Can you see the problem here?

The villain is no longer acting for himself to get what he (or she) desires. The villain acts solely to provide opposition for the hero. He is not a person. He is a puppet dancing at the tip of the author’s pen.

The author who writes such a villain strips him of any life he might have possessed in and of himself, making him little more than a robot programmed to oppose the hero.

But, you ask, how does one avoid this?

So glad you asked.

In order to avoid a protagonist-centric villain, you must look at things from the villain’s point of view.

Tip 1: Answer the question why from the villain’s perspective.

Every writer’s favorite question is why. You must know why your protagonist makes the choice that allows them to embark on their heroic journey. You must know why they fail halfway through. You must know why they are able to succeed in the end.

But you almost must know why your villain does what he or she does. And when you ask yourself why, write your answer from the villain’s perspective.

For example, instead of replying: Villain wants to destroy the protagonist because the protagonist is trying to stop the villain from dominating the world in a reign of terror.

(Can you see how this is focused on the protagonist, instead of the villain?) Try writing: All Villain wants is power. A chance to unleash the evil genius that has always been neglected, ignored, looked down upon. The world will recognize his greatness … even if he has to force it on one person at a time at the tip of his sword. And no one is going to stand in his way.

Tip 2: Instead of looking at how the villain is getting in the protagonist’s way, try seeing how the protagonist is getting in the villain’s way.

Ever read a novel where the villain just seems to handily pop up from time to time, at just the right moment to foil the protagonist’s plan or issue some rarely-fulfilled threat? But you have no clue what the villain does the rest of the story? He just disappears whenever he’s not needed on stage. A puppet.

Don’t do that. When you outline, outline the story from the villain’s perspective. Know what the villain is trying to accomplish, and use his goals to thwart the protagonist. Know what the villain’s journey looks like. Know what the villain does when the protagonist is not around.

Which brings us to my final admonishment:

Tip 3: Get to know your villain.

Admittedly, it can be dangerous. Casual conversation with a villain usually is. But how else are you going to discover that your Dark Lord has an unnatural fear of spiders, likes cuddly kittens, and is allergic to blue cheese?

Quite a few of them are, actually.

Get to know your villain, know his deepest desires and his darkest fears, and your villain will no longer be protagonist-centric. He will possess a life of his own. Your very own Frankenstein.

I rest my case.

Tune in next time, for another lesson from the Spy and the Academy of Ultimate Villainy.

Cause Everyone Needs a Little Inspiration Now and Then …

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It’s just one of those days.

Cold. Grey. Damp.

Not quite raining, but drizzling every now and then. The sort that makes you want to curl up under a blanket with a cup of coffee and a good book, though you know you should be writing. So you stuff the book under a pillow out of reach and pull out your laptop … only to find yourself staring at a blinking cursor on a blank page with no idea how to get the words out of your head and into the story.

Ever had one of those days?

When I find it hard to write, it’s usually because there’s something holding me back.

Fear.

Fear that I’ll ruin what I think should be a good story. Fear that I’m a failure before I even get started. Fear that my story is terrible … and I’ll just make it worse.

In fact, I wrote a whole blog post about it once: When My Pen Runs Dry.

One thing that I’ve found helps me when I hit a dry spot in my writing, is to go back through my story and reread my favorite parts. This time, I decided to take it a little farther and designed a “quotes graphic” for each of the main characters to use as inspiration while I write.

I’m not a graphics designer by any means … it’s one of my many non-talents … but I had fun making these and they serve their purpose such as it is!

Ronan
Ronan: A Fighting Chance
Ceridwen
Ceridwen: Strong

Ceridwen: Ashes
Want to design your own character-inspiration graphic? 

Here’s what I did:

Color

First, I settled on a color for the graphic. I tend to associate certain characters with specific colors even as I write. I knew automatically that Ceridwen would be a burned-to-the-embers fire red. Ronan on the other hand was a smoky blue, like the sea on a misty morning.

Words

Second, I found words to describe my characters. These can be words your character would use to describe themselves. Or names others associate with them. Or words that encapsulate their identity in the story, even if they would never see themselves that way.
Ronan’s tale is in many ways a story of becoming, so all the different words in his backdrop point to the many different identities he bears throughout the story.
The fire and ash in Ceridwen’s backdrop, on the other hand, point to her past. A past that continues to define her present and her future.
The Quote

This, of course, is entirely up to you! I chose quotes that I thought captured some part of the character’s voice and history to help me remember who the character is and inspire me to continue to tell their tale. I made several graphics with quotes that aren’t actually in the story, but fit the character so well that I knew I would work them in somehow.
Are there any random things you do for inspiration when you hit those dull, grey days?

Villainy 101: Jail Breaks – What NOT to Do

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Well … I’m back.

And I’m still alive too.

Oh, you don’t know who I am?

That’s just the way I like it. I’m the Spy. I’ve spent the past several weeks … months … years—I don’t know really—locked up in a dungeon in the Academy of Ultimate Villainy. At last—long last—I’ve managed to escape and return to you.

As you might have expected, the Villains stole all my recent notes and recordings, but there’s one thing they couldn’t take.

The knowledge locked up inside my noggin.

After spending so much time in the company of so many Villains, I’ve got enough to write a bestseller … or at least help you write yours.

Today, I figured I’d talk about jail breaks and what not to do. And yes, I learned most of this through experience. Painful experience.

villainy-101-jail-breaks

4 Things You Shouldn’t Do When Trying to Escape the Dungeons

1. Antagonize your guards

I’m sure you’ve all seen the movies. The hero gets captured and thrown into prison, but there’s just no getting this guy down! All the way, he’s throwing out those cutting quips and brilliant one liners that reveal the guards for the incompetent nincompoops that they are—and the guards just grunt and growl and slam the door in his face, maybe punch him in the stomach, but that’s about as far as they take it.

Yeah. Not true.

The guards may be incompetent nincompoops—we’ve already heard a lecture from Dr. Sinestra on the Proper Procedure for Hiring Evil Henchmen due to the fact that most villains do hire incompetent nincompoops—but they usually have a temper. A very bad temper.

It’s best not to get them angry.

2. Make a wild run for it

It pretty much always ends in failure. Before you can successfully break out of the dungeons, you need to have some idea of the lay of the land, which passages lead where, what time the guards come around, how many guards there are. The usual stuff.

Remember, there’s always a pattern. Depending on the security level, that pattern may take you an extremely long time to discover. But there’s always a pattern hidden somewhere. And if you find the openings in the pattern, you’ve taken a huge step toward breaking out.

If you ever get thrown into the dungeons at the Academy of Ultimate Villainy, know that you’re going to be stuck there for a long time before you find any sort of a pattern. They change their guards constantly, vary the routes, change the times that they bring you food—if they bring you food, that is—and do everything in their power to leave you confused, disoriented, and unaware of what is happening elsewhere.

It’s almost impossible without outside help.

Patience is the key to success.

3. Betray your fellow prisoners

Occasionally, the opportunity arises to communicate with your fellow prisoners and try to enlist their help in your escape. You’ll want to be very careful when you do this. A casual word to the wrong person … they rat you out to the guards … and presto … your escape plans are foiled for at least the next year.

And maximum security dungeons, like the AUV, tend to have at least one or two moles among the prisoners …

Yeah, I learned that the hard way.

Anyway, if you do manage to enlist the help of fellow prisoners, make sure you actually give them what you promised. And don’t promise anything you can’t or won’t give them. The last thing you want to do is betray the folks who help you.

Because if your escape goes wrong … and you wind up locked in the dungeon again … you’ll want some folks on your side.

Not angry prisoners you betrayed.

4. Leave the door open.

I know. It seems like a no-brainer. But you won’t believe how many jail breaks are foiled simply because the escapee couldn’t wait to taste the fresh air of freedom and forgot to close the door to his prison cell.

If you’re a guard, and you’re walking down a corridor, bored at the end of a long day of walking down corridors, and you see a cell door closed … chances are, you won’t take a second look.

But if you see a cell door open … well, that’s just the jolt of adrenaline you need to wake you up and send you running to sound the alarm and find the escapee.

Like I said, bad idea.

I don’t care how pressed you are for time … you always have time to close the cell door.

Hope that was helpful, folks! Be watching for more posts from the Academy of Ultimate Villainy.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to buy a hamburger … sweet juicy goodness with all the fixings … and fries. Lots of fries. My mouth’s watering just thinking about it.

Dungeon food leaves a lot to be desired.

The Spy, signing off

The World Ahead …

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"Home is behind, the world ahead."

At the end of the summer, I wrote a post about coming home from a summer full of grand adventures. I wrote about how to me home is the Shire and camp is Narnia.

Well, I’ve received the call as it were, and the time has come for me to head back. To set off on a new adventure. To leave the Shire behind.

I have a new job.

I’ll be working full time at camp as a ministry specialist, overseeing the horse program, writing Bible Dramas, and who knows what-other-awesome-stuff! If I could have dreamed up a job for myself … well, suffice it to say it would have looked a lot like this.

So, I’m currently in the middle of packing and loading up and transporting one life to a new one. It always sounds easier than it actually is. At the moment, my room bears a distinct resemblance to a town decimated by a Kansas tornado.

I do have a sneaky sort of suspicion that packing up might be a whole lot easier if I didn’t have such an extensive library! But honestly … what is one supposed to do?

“I forgot we’ll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library.“
~ Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

That would be me. :)

I intend to continue my writing of course. (Packing up my desk … now there’s a chore I’m not looking forward to!) The first draft of The Epic of Aedonia is forging ahead like a runaway forest fire. I don’t think I could stop writing it if I tried … or if I did, the characters would appear to me in my dreams and haunt my sleep.

“There is no agony like having an untold story inside you.“
~ Zora Neale Hurston

But generally speaking, I’m afraid posts are going to become somewhat sporadic on here over the next couple of weeks. Well, that is to say, more sporadic than usual. Adventures of this sort tend to be a bit time consuming. I’ve got to get moved in and settle into my new job and everything that entails … so the blog will have to scoot to the back burner for a week or two.

After that, I should be back on track, and we’ll be able to get back to our typical fantasy musings, character in costumes challenges, quizzes, reviews, etc.

Providing of course, I remember to pack my pocket handkerchiefs! :)

The Beauty of Imagination

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The Lord of the Rings
I was five years old when my dad started reading The Hobbit aloud to me at night, introducing me to a whole new world of imagination. A world full of goblins and dragons and magic rings and little hobbits who faced their fears and became the most courageous characters of all.
At five years old, I was afraid. Afraid of the dark. Afraid of goblins. Nothing like the brave hobbits.
So my heroic dad came to the rescue … and made me a sword. My first weapon! A magnificent blade, two feet long … crafted from the finest aluminum foil in the realm.
Yep. Aluminum foil. It was a mite flimsy. But I didn’t mind. I named it Sting and set it beside my bed in case of danger in the night.
I slept easy after that, comforted in the belief that if danger ever threatened, I could grab my trusty sword and it would become strong in my hand, a mighty weapon capable of slaying the fiercest dragon.
Imagination is a beautiful thing, is it not?
Beautiful Books
My older sister was an avid reader. She devoured books at a rate most rampaging dragons couldn’t hope to compete with. But on the rare occasions when she could be coaxed to set her book down, we played together in the back yard while she invented wonderful stories full of amazing people, places, and settings.
Together we sailed ships through terrible storms. Galloped across the hills pursued by enemies. Dug our way out of a prison camp.

But it wasn’t until several years later, when I picked up some of my older sister’s books, that I realized where her stories came from.

So many of the characters, places, and stories we had played over the years were drawn from the books she was reading at the time.

Imagine it for a moment. You pick a book off the shelf, flip it open, and suddenly realize that a character seems oddly familiar, almost as though you’ve met before. You recall a name, but can’t figure out how. The story you’ve never read tugs at your memory.

Deja vu?

The more books I read, the more I realized that I had already traveled a fair bit around the literary world in those games in the backyard.

I’d sailed to Treasure Island with Jim Hawkins. Traveled to Letzenstein and escaped from Julius Varenshalt along with Catherine Ayre from the Letzenstein Chronicles. Journeyed through the Wardrobe to Narnia along with the four Pevensies.

I think I can honestly say it was that first epic story I heard … and those wonderful little games we played … that inspired me to write novels of my own.

To create characters and worlds and events that would transport others to an imaginary place. To allow others to experience what I had experienced.

The beauty of imagination.

It’s a wonderful gift.

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” – Carl Sagan 

Epic of Aedonia – First Lines

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I recently started a new novel. A fantasy, of course, first in a series. And this one is looking like it will be one of those novels where each word is a drop of blood wrung from the heart of the writer.

At least that is my wish.

I’m quite excited about this story. And just a little nervous too, of course. Because this is going to be my largest book, grandest concept, most complex storyline, and most fascinating world yet.

It is the Epic of Aedonia.

Here are the opening lines of the book–one section from both of the main characters’ first chapters–just to whet your appetite.

Ronan’s Chapter — Cry of the Sea

The cry of the sea-demon awoke him. Shrill—more of a scream than a cry—the sound
pierced the thatched roof and walls of the fisherman’s hut and brought Ronan to
his feet, gasping for breath.

He swayed and clutched his hammock with one hand to steady himself. The scream
rang in his ears, a high-pitched wail keening across the lonesome shore. Always
the sea-demons called to him.

Always he tried to forget.

He clenched his fist, until his arm shook with the force. A stab of pain brought a
cry to his lips. Blood trickled down the sides of his hand, spattering his bare
feet with dark spots.

Ronan gazed uncomprehending at the blood and then at his hand. He was holding his
harpoon by the blade while the metal bit into his palm. He yanked his stiff
fingers apart and released the harpoon. It clattered against the stone floor.

Ceridwen’s Chapter — Outriders

The stench of death fouled the air. It filled her nostrils, seeped past the gloved
hand she instinctively held to her mouth, and clogged her throat. She could not
escape it.

Death was near.

Mindar, her horse, danced a nervous jig beneath her, hooves pawing at the forest loam.
A puff of black smoke burst from his nostrils. Ceridwen tightened her grip on
the reins, restraining the excited hylshum steed, and pulled her hand from her
face to stroke his neck.

Even through the thick leather of  her gloves she could feel the heat radiating from his skin. If he didn’t calm down, the flamebreather was liable to hold true to his name … and the prospect of extinguishing a forest fire started by her own steed was even less desirable than investigating this stench.

Well, that’s it for now! Pretty rough still, though there’ll be plenty of time to sort it out later. Time I crack on though and finish writing the rest of the story. I’ve got over twenty pages of outlines and world building notes to help me out. And thank goodness! There’s no way I’d be able to keep all of it straight without them.

free short story: Of Shadow and Rust

New Release: Of Sea and Smoke

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