To borrow from a famous politician, changing one word, Villains are people too, my friend. Yes, they are, and they need to be written with the same care that you give your main characters. They need to be full-bodied, three-dimensional people with a backstory that, though you might hate them, you see why they developed as they did. We want to know what made them who they are, and if you fail to do this, you might be writing a cardboard villain. It doesn’t take much finesse to write totally evil characters, sneering and plotting the most dastardly crimes, but that doesn’t make them whole, and it doesn’t make them memorable or believable. The best villains are pitted against the noble hero/heroine: Lex Luthor vs Superman, Hannibal Lecter vs Clarice Starling. I remember reading Thomas Harris’s Silence of the Lambs , and Lecter was the epitome of evil. A sociopath, he had no moral compass, no reason he turned out the way he does. So why is he so compelling as a character? I believe in ...

Good writers ask, "What if?" Great writers ask, "Why?" More than any other detail in your story, readers are captivated by characters the most. They may forget the plot points, the setting, perhaps the ending. However, an unforgettable character will stay with them forever. A few examples: Harry Potter, Superman, Batman, Dr. Who, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Anne of Green Gables, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Jack Reacher, Elizabeth Bennett, Jane Eyre, Bilbo Baggins. Boring characters rarely make history. There are many articles here at the BRP that explore the importance of characters. Here are links to a few: Creating Compelling Characters Characters in a Series Calling For Back-Up: Sidekicks and Henchmen Love Your Characters For more information on how to build believable characters, check out Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict and the Build A Cast Workbook . They apply the concept of personality types to building characters t...