Just like you have to investigate the history and psyche of your protagonist, you need to dig deeper to create a compelling antagonist for your novel. The biggest mistake I think rookie writers make when writing the antagonist, especially if he’s a villain, is …
He’s mean because he’s mean.
There is no more reason behind the antagonist’s dastardly actions than the writer needs him to do dastardly things. But that kind of shallow writing won’t create a compelling antagonist.
Build the antagonist like the protagonist.
Do you know her likes and dislikes? What personality type does he fit? Understanding your antagonist as well as your protagonist will make him come alive on the page. Below are a few points to keep in mind as you do your digging.
- Make sure your antagonist is a worthy opponent. In a mystery, the antagonist has to be as clever as the protagonist or the protagonist will solve the mystery on page 10. Sometimes, writers make the protagonist so powerful or accomplished that the antagonist doesn’t stand a chance. Conversely, it’s all right to make an antagonist seem unbeatable. That will make readers root for your protagonist more. Just be sure that you create a believable trajectory for the protagonist to overcome a super-powerful antagonist.
- If your antagonist is a villain, don’t glamorize the villainy. This can be easy for writers to do if they get carried away with wearing the black hat. You can have fun writing the villain, but within the novel, his evil actions should be treated by the other characters for what they are: evil.
- If your antagonist is a villain, her backstory should explain, not excuse, her evil actions. Star Wars fans enjoy the prequel trilogy because it gives us the backstory of one of fiction’s greatest villains, Darth Vader. While these movies provide an explanation, they don’t offer the backstory as an excuse for Darth Vader subjecting the galaxy to terror and tyranny.
When I create the villain in one of my mystery novels–the character who has committed a crime and is trying to prevent anyone from discovering it was he or she–I ask myself a few questions:
- Does the antagonist have a realistic motive to justify the crime? If my antagonist murders a man for stealing his lunch money in first grade, then I don’t have a realistic motive for murder.
- Is the crime spur of the moment or planned? Certain personalities might commit a serious crime in the heat of the moment. Others definitely would not. I need to understand which camp my villain belongs to.
- If the crime is planned, would the villain have the resources to do it? Does she have the intelligence to plot a locked room murder? To give herself an alibi? Is she deceptive enough not to give herself away to the police? How far will she go to protect herself from exposure to the authorities?
Here are all my tips and prompts this month on writing characters.
Who are some of your favorite antagonists? If you’ve created an antagonist, what are some problems you encountered while developing this character?