TYRANICAL TIPS • BLOOMSBURY VILLAINS • DASTARDLY DEEDS
Mark Walden's top ten tips for the BigBadWrite
- A good villain isn't all bad. Everyone loves a really horrible moustache-twirling bad guy but remember, villains are people too.
- Villains get all the best lines. If you come up with a really good line of dialogue, save it for a villain. Villains that everyone remembers are those who can cut the hero down with a well-placed word or two.
- Not always good advice, but don't be afraid to make your villains go slightly over the top in dialogue, costume, physical appearance etc.
- Don't kill your villains off. If you've created some that are special, don't have them so beaten that they can't return.
- Write down your good ideas (and even your bad ones).
- Don't be afraid to try different styles of writing. The villain you create might suit themselves to diary entries, a film-script or a series of letters rather than a straight forward narrative.
- Listen to people in order to understand the way a conversation flows so your characters in turn sound like they're really talking to each other.
- Don't give up. There will be days when trying to write something good feels like banging your head against a brick wall but don't worry.
- Establish a routine. It's always a good idea to try to set aside a specific time to sit down at a keyboard or with pen and paper and get some writing done.
- Try to visualise the story in your head as though it were a film, that way you can create a clear picture of your characters, setting and the action happening.
Visit the BigBadRead website for more inspiration