Today’s topic was submitted by QSF Member RW Urbina: “Do villains deserve redemption? Or how evil is too evil when writing the big bad? It’s something I’ve been struggling with during the last month.”
I have to admit, I’ve struggled with this little bit too. I have a hard time writing villains. I want all of my characters to be happy and friendly and nice.
And I realize that this can make for very dull characters. But I think it comes from my near-pathological desire to have everyone like me.
The other problem I often see is that many villains are not very complex. So often, they are very one-dimensional. Think Dr. Evil.
So my questions today – Have you written villainous characters before? How evil have they been? Do you think these characters deserve redemption? And how do you create a villainous character that is multidimensional? For readers, what are your favorite literary villains, and why?