Advice when defining your story "bad guy" - I have read numerous scripts over the past year where, although the villain epitomized evil, their actions were not justified. They appeared to be evil for the sole reason of having a bad guy in the story. Just something to consider, but the best "bad guys...
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I'm here because my daughter, Kara Rainer (Actor, Director, Producer) mentioned it to me, and I'm loving it!! I'm basically a woman with a lot of stories inside; a lot of Good stories! So, I've begun to put some of those stories down hoping that someone will find them interesting and enduring! My st...
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Funny and well said at the same time. I came across a short story recently that I like very much and want to develop. This really helped me think through about what drew me to it, (It flips the script.) Now I can approach the author with my "take." Thanks for sharing!
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The villain is the hero if the story is told from their point of view.
love this conversation...I've always loved villains and believe they Make the story. We are all half-villain aren't we? It is the situation that makes us heroes or villains............................. and the situation is in our hands as writers!
It is definitely a tricky issue. If you explain too much about the villains, you might elicit too much sympathy for them! But it is good to see some sort of motivation. I was recently having a discuss...
Expand commentIt is definitely a tricky issue. If you explain too much about the villains, you might elicit too much sympathy for them! But it is good to see some sort of motivation. I was recently having a discussion with friends about the White Witch in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", and how evil she is without any clear motivation. She's constantly exerting cruelty right and left, but never seems to enjoy a moment of it. Now that was (sort of) a children's book, so maybe evil just needed to be straight-up evil, but it did strike me, as an adult, that I would like to know at least a LITTLE bit of the motivation. But not too much! You need to find the balance--explain without eliciting sympathy. If they are really the villains in the story, the audience should be rooting against them. If you write a complex character with good and bad qualities, then that is a fully believable character, but I would not call that character a villain.
I did see in one movie a scene where a child asked an adult, "Am I a bad person?" The adult said, "there are no bad people--only bad actions." This is great advice for the real world, and for scripts...
Expand commentI did see in one movie a scene where a child asked an adult, "Am I a bad person?" The adult said, "there are no bad people--only bad actions." This is great advice for the real world, and for scripts with realistic people, but if you really want somebody for the audience to root against, make them bad!