A Story Is Only As Good As Its Villain
Hope everyone is having a great Summer. Now that I’m getting caught up from being sick, my mind has turned to working on my latest story. When I work on stories it can be a process. Especially since I’m still learning the ropes.
When I was working on “The Osiris Initiative”, the sequel to my debut novel “Tears of the Dragon”, I found that I struggle quite a bit. For whatever reason, I found it hard to get past “Tears of the Dragon” and move the storyline forward.
I continued assembling ideas but that’s what they seemed to be, just a list of ideas. I couldn’t make them form a coherent story. I eventually created the character of Mr. Devos. I once again turned to Ian Fleming for inspiration, wanting to create a villain like Blofield or Goldfinger. The character seemed fine, but I still didn’t feel that spark. One day I happened to see one of the apartment commercials that features Jeff Goldblum. Those of you who know me will know that I absolutely love Jeff. Suddenly I was struck by inspiration. What if I wrote Devos as if he was an evil version of Jeff Goldblum? Once that character took up residence in my head, the rest was history. The book came together and I was really happy with the story and with the character I had created.
That experience got me thinking. Would Luke Skywalker had been as strong a hero if he didn’t have to go up against Darth Vader? The thing I get from all of this is simple. If you want to write a compelling story, write a compelling villain. Writing complex villains gives your protagonist something substantial to overcome. Simply put, the better the villain, the better the story.
As always, drop me a line if you want. Let me know what you think, do we need strong villains to make a strong hero? Ask a question, tell me what’s going on in your life, or share what you’re writing. I answer every email I get. So everyone stay safe out there and we’ll talk soon!
– Ryan
