When writing, it is imperative you spend just as much time getting to know your central villain. Despite perhaps not having as much ‘screen time’ as the central protagonist – the ‘hero’ – it is The Bad Guy’s response and emotional reaction to the hero’s actions that cause the escalation to the conflict. What may have started out as a misunderstanding or a miscommunication becomes what appears to be an overreaction, or a determination not to listen, that catapults our story on.

Or is it?

We call it an over-reaction, a misunderstanding, but that is because this is how it is presented to us. The narrator is convincing us of this. Language is being used to manipulate our support and to plant us firmly on the side of our ‘hero’ – namely the central protagonist. But to write that convincingly, you have to look at it from The Bad Guy’s view.

The key point is that they don’t see themselves as the ‘villain’. They believe themselves to be the hero of their own story. They want success. They want to believe in themselves, too. They want to feel in control of their own lives. They feel they have been wronged, let down, lied to and led astray. In fact, they hold all the same ‘ideals’ as the hero. Whether we agree with their reasons becomes the reason we invest our time in finding out what happens next – do they rise or fall?

Therefore, in construction of these characters, you essentially have a mirror image. Two characters experiencing the same incident, but reacting in two opposing ways, which causes the conflict. But both feel that they are on the side of the right – that they are working for the greater good.

If you write a villain as a villain, they become devoid of purpose, of reason for their actions.

No matter how extreme they seem from the narrator’s view, the villain must always think they are the hero of their own story.