Not all villains are monsters. Sometimes a villain is merely the person who stands in the way of your heroine achieving her goal. There doesn’t have to be any malice involved, or even an awareness that the heroine has a goal. This is especially true if your villain isn’t actually a person but is, say, the weather or a horse race or a flower that must bloom at a certain time. So, how can you create a villain without overdoing it? I like to use these techniques.
People watch.
I was at a festival over the weekend and one of the guests caught my attention. “Self,” I said, “you could make a villain out of him.” He seemed perfectly normal, but something about the way he shifted his backpack triggered this whole backstory of a war collaborator infiltrating the resistance with orders to destroy everyone.
Put yourself on the other side.
Sometimes, usually while watching the news, I try to imagine a character who holds a different view of the situation than I do, and come up with a version of the events that makes no sense to me but would to my villain. If the news is too distressing for this exercise, try it the next time you are out to eat. Take a good look at the menu and imagine a character who would enjoy the dish you find most unappealing.
Indulge in your emotions.
While malice is the fallback emotional state for many villains, what if your villain were motivated by something else? Envy is a good start, but envy of what? The heroine’s money? Her dress size? Her perfectly formed little feet? What if the villain hates your heroine due to an irrational distrust of green-eyed redheads?
When you start thinking of your villain in different terms, you might find your character becomes more usable. Who knows, you could even end the novel with your heroine helping the villain find redemption, which could be the start of an entirely new series for you.
Luck and wisdom!
Lani Longshore's Blog 