You most likely know who your antagonist is when you start your novel, even if it's as vague as "the killer." A mystery writer friend of mine often has multiple suspects in mind as she writes, and it isn't until the end that she discovers which one actually "done it." Vague or specific, someone or something is standing in the way of your protagonist's happiness. I've done fleshing out your bad guys and plotting from their perspective before, but let's get a little closer to them this week.
Writing from their perspective.
This can be a tricky point of view to do, because often the tension in a novel is wondering what's going to happen next and what bad things are going to occur. Being inside the mind of your antagonist can steal some of that tension because the mystery is all gone. Readers know what's going to happen because the bad guy told them.
The challenge is finding ways to keep the wonder and mystery there even though the reader knows both sides. Revealing information that will change the outcome, but in a way that the reader can't predict. Or hint at things that have been building in the background, but readers haven't yet picked up on, that will shock them and they'll smack themselves for not seeing it coming.
Another challenge, is developing the bad guy the same as you would your protagonist. They'll have goals and motives driving them. They'll be in it for reasons that frequently have nothing to do with the protagonist. The protagonist just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or of they're not, and it is personal and directed, then you'll have new layers to play with and crafting a solid bad guy becomes even more important.
One thing that's help me when writing from the bad guy's POV, is to make them the hero of their own story. Few people actually consider themselves evil or bad, so even if there's a bit of conscience bugging them, they'll rationalize it same as your hero would. To them, the protagonist is the one getting in the way and messing things up. The protagonist is their villain.
Let your narrative and internalization reflect this while in the bad guy's POV. It's easy to let your views on the bad guy color their scenes, because they're the bad guy, but this will have the opposite effect of what you probably want to accomplish by being in their head. You'll show them being evil, maybe put the hero's attitude on them even though they'd never think of themselves or their actions that way.
I've found I get the best bad guys this way. (and it's fun to write them). They become real people with real problems and readers are much more likely to find them fascinating. And a bonus--since both sides are fully developed characters, you usually craft better plots because both sides are being driven by real motives. And that means all bets are off and anything can happen.
Have you ever written from the bad guy's perspective? What did you like the most about it? The least?
8 comments:
That's something I'm trying to do with my antagonist. I wasn't going to write in his POV, but since none of my protagonists will have any interaction with him until the end, I was struggling to get across the threat he posed. Since he isn't to be the mystery villain anyway, I decided to write his viewpoint to increase the sense of threat, show him setting things in motion that may not have any direct or immediate relevance to the protags until later.
I'm finding it easier to understand him and figure out what he would do now that I'm trying to get inside his head. I'm not quite sure I'm there yet, but I'm making progress in solidifying the vague ideas I'd created him with. I've also "discovered" a whole slew of information about him which clarifies his motivations. He's more real in my head now.
I like this post! Writing from the antagonist's perspective can be a really valuable tool for developing the story even when the antagonist's point of view won't be appearing in the main narrative, i.e. even when it's just an exercise. Knowing how the bad guy thinks can totally change how you write his/her behavior.
A narrative that uses both hero/ine and antagonist viewpoints can create tension by utilizing a sense of confidentiality between the writer and reader. It doesn't necessarily give things away.
*small voice* I did this with my NaNoWriMo project this past year.
*gulps*
Most characters were brats, aristocrats, lunatics, pragmatists, sociopaths, or some combination of them. The hero/villain was a pragmatic sociopath who in and of himself freaked me out to work with. I sometimes felt like curling up and hiding from him in my closet. A friend later told me later that it had given her the creeps just to hear about him.
So just a warning... if you're going to dive into the head of someone who's seriously psycho, make sure to do it in fragments for the sake of your own comfort and sanity.
And this coming from someone who considers Evanescence and Within Tempation good music for when she's happy.
This is such great advice. Writing from my antagonist's pov, I've found that I *empathize* with him. Although I don't agree with his methods, making his goals rational ones have made him a deeper, more interesting character. That, in turn, gives depth to the story. Right on, Janice!
This is such great advice. Even if you don't write any of your story from your antagonist's pov, you have to understand him/her like your other characters. And like you say, he/she has to want what they want for some reason that makes them think they are right. Otherwise they are just evil for the sake of being evil and are not very interesting characters and your story lacks depth.
I've always loved villains. A good bad guy is a thing of beauty. I'll have to do a villain book one day, though no clue what that might be!
Great post. I heartily agree.
I've recently added my antagonist's POV and I'm finding it so elucidating. The things that go on inside his head and the skewed way he rationalizes it all! He's more sympathetic when you can see the evil is prompted by madness.
Heather, sounds like my kind of antagonist! The bad guys can be so much fun.
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