Make Your Own Super Villain
A crime story is nothing without a great villain. But some crime writers may find it difficult to create a convincing baddie that moves the story forward. The reason might be that the author might have been inspired by a storyline rather than the characters. To make the story happen, the writer may “people” the plot, simply filling in gaps with fictional human entities that move from one scene to another.To flesh out the villain character, the following issues may need addressing:
Allowing the subconscious to draw upon stereotypes or stereotypical characteristics during the character conception stage. Examples might be that the baddie has a deep scar on his cheek, has a penchant for graveyards or wears a long trench coat. Such characteristics may have been sourced from real life notorious criminals or fictional villains from classic novels.
Not creating contrast between characters in the story. This does not just mean in “good” or “bad,” but in the body language, the dialogue used or the past the counterparts have inhabited. In this respect, black appears blacker next to white.
An audio sample of my book the Shuttered Room: a kidnapper locks a hostage in the loft. An unsavory deed, but his insecurities are revealed later in the novel.
Not giving the villain a past or a childhood is a big mistake, and will make the actions and motives of the character unconvincing. Creating a character profile questionnaire will flesh out the villain. This may involve inventing a family background, educational history, nicknames, language used, clothes sense, disabilities or eye colour, (even if some of these details are left out of the novel). These strategies will make the villain appear real in the author’s mind during the writing.
Creative Writing Tips for Crime Writing
Making the villain’s thought processes rational given his or her past is a gift. Instilling sympathy for a baddie within the reader will make the villain more disturbing and might spur the reader ask questions about themselves and about why people do the things they do.
No one is totally good or totally bad. Give the villain some redeeming features that will make the villain more rounded. A villain that does nothing but bad things or thinks bad thoughts may make the baddie appear flat rather than three dimensional, and instill apathy within the reader.
In this excerpt in my blog novel, Nora, the heroine, Nancy actually behaves villainous. However, she behaves this way because of a past trauma, as can be seen in this scene describing displaced anger. Here, she deprives a cripple one of his crutches because she thinks he has betrayed her.
Crime Writing Solutions
Adding real depth and complexity to a baddie is possible if the writer looks deep within. Creating an emotional landscape the writer can identify with will generate a baddie the writer can really empathise with. The resultant villain’s motives and desires are better understood and ultimately help to create a character-driven crime story.
An example might be how a divorce might have impacted upon the author’s ability to make friends at school. Projecting the lonely feelings this might have invoked in the writer can be projected upon the villain albeit for a different reason, which might be a childhood spent in hostels due to poverty. Having an intimate understanding of the villain’s emotional core is the key to creating a realistic villain rather than a cardboard cut-out character within the crime novel.Links to Further Advice on Crime Writing
The novelist may find that publishing a digital novel is quite simple, as free publishing tools on Amazon, Smashwords or LuLu make sharing a novel with the world possible. However, with so much competition out there, the enovel could well be buried beneath millions of other enovels.
It is never too late to change the title if the author has misgivings. Avoid hackneyed or generalised phrases that does not evoke an image, or those that remind the reader of another book. Original use of words will make the book title memorable or whet the potential reader’s appetite, ask questions or wonder what the book is about. A thesaurus is invaluable for this purpose.
Regardless of how riveting the plot might be, unless the author takes reign of every marketing strategy available to get the digital book seen, the story will remain largely unread. So what can the author do to drive traffic to and make money from an ebook? Well, there are many ways to get interested customers to the electronic book, such as:
The author may by now have several keywords and phrases to use for marketing the enovel. The best place for these words is in headings, subheadings, bullet points, hyperlinks and dotted around the body text. Ideal opportunities for a scattering of keywords might be in the novel synopsis, the blurb or enovel description.
Most authors would jump at the chance at having a published novel on the bookshelves, but sadly, this is difficult to achieve. But the past few years has seen a revolutionary power shift in the author’s favour. Ebook publishing companies such as Google Ebooks, LuLu, Smashwords, XinZii and, the focus of this article, Amazon.com have made publishing tools and resources available to the author.
Amazon offer two pricing options for the ebook: The first is the 70% royalty option, for ebooks within a low price threshold, the other is 35% royalty for ebooks within a higher price range. It is worth bearing in mind, that the enovel may attract more buyers if it is low in price.
Amazon’s CreateSpace is a hub of free online publishing tools that enables the writer to publish, sell and distribute books through Amazon. The CreateSpace account means the writer can sell books through three different channels. These are:
Special features of the CreateSpace publish a book are as follows:
Writing a situation comedy requires a specific set of skills that enables the story to unfold in a limited time period and in specific settings. But creating comedy should come from the writer’s heart and not follow rules. How does the writer create the ideal sitcom that is guaranteed to get laughs?
Writing a novel in a month may seem insane, but the national writing month’s target of 50,000 words in thirty days is a challenge many writers welcome. Not only is it a fun activity, it also leaves the writer with a first draft of a novel almost in an instant. But what strategies can the writer use to ensure that a novel has been written in a month?