The Art and Craft of Villainy

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Once upon a time, my family watched Midsomer Murders.  Looking back on it, I can hardly figure out why, but for some reason we liked the series - until Troy left and they brought in a new right-hand-man.  After that, we stopped watching and the series has, for the most part, faded from my thoughts.

Not entirely, though.  Villains seem to be the characters of the day - or month - and when Georgie and Sky released their Villain edition of Beautiful people in May, my mind soon went to a line from one of the Midsomer episodes.  I can no longer remember the exact quote, and I've no intention of trawling through fifteen seasons' worth of episodes to find it; but in the main, the detective was asking another character if he knew about the trinity of murder.  That is,

motive

opportunity

means

Three things that seem to me fitting questions to ask any villain, murderer or not.  After all, there is an art to creating a memorable villain, as much as there is an art to creating a (hopefully still more memorable) hero; greatly as a billowing black cape may enhance the awfulness of any antagonist, it is, alas, not the deciding factor of villainy.  So what about this trinity?

motive

Much is written about backstory - the primary factor in forming any character's motive, including that of the villain.  He must have some reason for doing what he does, or he will only come across as arbitrary and irritating.  Writers are forced to take into account that, depraved though human nature is, it is still considered unnatural to commit certain crimes, including murder; one usually doesn't simply wake up one morning and decide to take a jaunt before breakfast to kill a handful of people.  An impetus is needed.  What is that happened, or is happening, in the villain's life that set him on this particular path?

That said, I'll add that it isn't necessary for the villain's backstory to overwhelm the story, or even to be worth sympathizing with.  I never sympathized with Wickham, or Magua, and I've only ever remotely sympathized with one of my own villains.  Some people are just plain wicked, and it takes a great deal of effort to summon up any charitable feelings toward them - especially if they're on a page.  But you know, even psychopaths use a form of reasoning, and it ought to be lightly threaded into the story.

Another thing to consider in the search for motive is that the external impetus is not enough.  Two people will react to an event in two different ways.  One character may suffer poverty and come out on the other side with more charity and compassion; another may become Ebeneezer Scrooge.  The mental configuration of the villain is even more important than the outside events one may lob at him, for abuse and rejection and poverty and starvation and the whole shebang will only warp a character as much as he allows himself to be warped.

opportunity

The villain has to spend most of the story with opportunity, and greater opportunity than the protagonist.  The story will always be a give-and-take between the two characters, a battle in which sometimes one side and sometimes the other will come out the victor.  But for the most part it should be the villain who keeps the upper hand, for otherwise he isn't much of a villain at all.  The greater the villain's success, the greater the tension.  Thus, he must be in a suitable position for whatever it is he is attempting to do - or he must have good connections. Good connections are always to be coveted.  (Although one must take into account that if one wants a thing done properly, one has to do it oneself.  Never trust matters to the hired help.  Important advice for those who are considering ruling the world.)

means

Here there is a great deal of room in which to play.  The usual fallback means for villains to get what they want tends to be murder, but as mentioned above, that is hardly what one would call a "natural" thing to do.  The character has to be pushed very far, and have a certain makeup, to resort to that.  So before pinning the murder on him, the writer has to stop and consider whether he is in fact the sort of person to bring about his own ends by taking another person's life.  

If not, there are other means, just as wicked, some more insidious, that don't require any physical blood being spilled.  Manipulation is a good example and can take any number of forms, including blackmail; bullying also works, especially for characters who are rather childish.  For stories set in fantastical worlds, sorcery presents a whole array of possibilities.  And in any genre, there will be those villains who prefer to work entirely behind the scenes, pulling the strings so that others do the work for them.  In this instance, however, it is important to know why the puppets agreed to being on the strings in the first place...

...and then you go full circle and are back to "motive" again.

Interview with J. Grace Pennington

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Today I have the honor of participating in Grace Pennington's blog tour, celebrating the release of her novel Firmament: Radialloy.  Grace has supported Scribbles and Ink Stains for quite a while, and I'm delighted to have the opportunity to return the favor as her debut science fiction hits virtual shelves.  And what's more, Grace is also doing a giveaway of one copy of Radialloy!  To enter, just leave a comment with your email address.  Giveaway ends June 29, so don't miss the opportunity!

The year is 2320. Andi Lloyd is content with her life as the assistant to her adoptive father, a starship doctor, but her secure world turns upside down when she begins uncovering secrets from her past. When her father mysteriously starts losing his mind, she finds that she can no longer count on him to guide or help her. With mutiny breaking out on the ship, and two factions desperate for a valuable secret she holds, she must race to save her father and herself before time runs out.

the interview

1. To start off (as usual), could you tell readers a little about yourself? Short bio, extra-writing hobbies, cats, dogs, or fish? 

Hello, and thank you for having me! I’m a homeschool graduate, oldest of nine kids, living in the beautiful Texas Hill Country with my family. I love writing, obviously, but I also enjoy many other things—reading, watching films, playing piano and a little guitar and violin, playing with my siblings, chatting with friends, and riding my horse, Pioneer.

2. To what prime factors would you credit your writing, and how did you get started? Was it something you always saw yourself doing? 

Probably the biggest factor in my writing was reading and watching other stories. Every time I experience a great story, I feel a strong longing to create something just as beautiful. I started writing as soon as I realized I could, about age five. I knew then I wanted to be a writer, and I wrote prolifically until I was about fourteen, though I never finished anything. After that, I sort of gave up for awhile, and didn’t get back into it until I was nineteen. At that time, I finally got serious about writing, and finished several things

3. What would you say is your philosophy of writing, your way of looking at what it is you do? 

My first and foremost goal is to bring glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and serve others. Sometimes that means writing about God’s laws, sometimes it means demonstrating a virtue that mirrors His character, and other times it just means making someone laugh. But everything I write is weighed against that standard in one way or another.

4. Writers tend to have very different processes in the crafting of a story. Can you summarize yours, or does it change from one novel to the next? 

I’ve experimented with different things, but I do have a basic pattern I usually follow. I generally start with several things I have in mind—a first line, a bit of dialogue, a scene, a character, a relationship, a twist, an image—it could be anything. I freewrite until I have a general premise or idea of a plot that uses those things, and then I start writing the rough draft. I often plan as I write, taking a break to do some freewriting and plan the next couple of chapters. So I guess I’m sort of a cross between a panster and an outliner.
 
5. You primarily write science fiction, and Firmament: Radialloy falls in that genre. What sort of research and brain-storming goes into creating a story that takes place in such a different world? Are there things about sci-fi that you believe make it more difficult to write than other genres? 

It depends on what kind of sci-fi you are writing, I think. For instance, if you’re creating another planet, you have a lot of freedom to develop the setting, the rules, etc., depending on how scientifically accurate you want to be. If you’re writing it on Earth, on the other hand, you have to make sure you have not only science right, but you have to consider geography, realistic projections of future cultures (if you are setting your story in the future), and much more. And it can get more complicated—if you deal with time travel, for example, you have to work out the rules for that, and all the paradoxes that will result. So basically, science-fiction can be as difficult or simple as you make it, depending on the kinds of things your plot involves. My plots tend to be rather complicated and somewhat science-oriented, so they do require a fair amount of research, but not as much as very “hard” science-fiction, where there’s oftentimes more science than fiction.

6. Which sci-fi authors do you particularly enjoy, and which have had the most impact on your own writing?

Surprisingly, I haven’t read many sci-fi authors yet. One of the few I have read, I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, gave me a lot of thoughts about humanity. But thus far I’ve been more influenced by sci-fi films and TV shows, especially the Star Trek series, and the films of Steven Spielberg.

7. If driven to choose, what would you say were the three main things that inspired Firmament: Radialloy, both in its planning stages and in the writing of it? 

Star Trek was one, since my series is very loosely patterned after those shows, and it was what got me very interested in sci-fi. But before that I was growing interested in sci-fi due to a talk given by Mr. Doug Phillips at the 2009 Christian Filmmakers Academy about science-fiction and why it was important for Christians. If I had to pick a third influence, it would be my readers—I had test readers both of the type who squeal over each chapter and beg for more, and of the type that pick every paragraph to pieces, and some in between. All of which are very necessary to me, because I crave feedback in order to keep going.

8. Without giving any spoilers (which are evil), can you tell us what it is you would most like your readers to take away from your debut novel? 

In many ways, this is an introduction. It tells us who everyone is, what their relationships are, and the way things are on a starship in the twenty-fourth century, so we can move on to the more complex themes and stories of later books. But it also stands as its own story, as Andi learns to grow and mature. I’d like my young readers to learn and grow with her, and for my older readers to perhaps remember a little of what they learned once, when they were trying to finish growing up.

9. If I’m not mistaken, Radialloy is the first in a series. Where do you intend to take your future books? Will they all be closely tied together, or loosely linked instead? 

Indeed it is the first in a series. There are eighteen books planned in all, and they are definitely tied together, some more closely than others. Some almost stand alone, while others are in clusters that could be categorized as a trilogy within the series, due to events and character arcs carrying over. But there is an ongoing arc for everyone, especially Andi, as she journeys from being a young lady to being a woman.

10. What project are you currently working on? 

 I have a few different projects in different stages right now. Never, a historical western mystery in the revision stage; Machiavellian, the third Firmament novel, in the drafting stage; and Chroma, a cyberpunk thriller in the outlining stage. It’s going to be a busy year, as I’m hoping to write a couple novels and get Never published, perhaps in November. We’ll see where God leads!

Thank you so much for having me on Scribbles and Ink Stains, Abigail!

Thank you for adding Scribbles to your blog tour!  I'm looking forward to reading Radialloy.

Radialloy is available for purchase through Amazon, where you can also find reviews.  If you would like to connect with Grace and stay updated on her other works, be sure to check out her website and blog, or follow her on Twitter (@jgracetheauthor).