Mitzi Flyte

We talked about antagonists last week. How about a true villain, the actual bad guy? Let’s again distinguish antagonists from villains, because the former doesn’t necessarily

By King-Bee Films Corporation, via Wikimedia Commons

include the latter. The Writer and Proud blog talks about villains who aren’t antagonists, but they are rare; some of them are villainous and then come back to redeem themselves. I’d ask who the villains are in your books, but that would raise the spoiler alert flag, so I won’t. 

So, Wickeds, let’s talk about the elements of a good villain. We obviously need bad guys (which includes gals, of course). What makes him or her somebody our readers want to keep reading about, even if reluctantly? How does the villain play off the protagonist, and how do we make them real people, not just cardboard cutouts? Do you create villains who are not also antagonists? Go!

Barb: I’m not crazy about traditional villains and don’t tend to…