McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Writing villains
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Dresdenus Prime on August 17, 2012, 03:06:02 PM ---Is it plausible to write your first book of a series and introduce one of the primary series villains in Book 1? The end of the story would basically be a, "I'll get you next time Gadget!" moment. But I wasn't sure if this would be a bad choice - if I should concentrate on a lower level antagonist.
--- End quote ---
I think so. I mean, it depends on how compelling your lower-level antagonist is; whatever your concerns about selling the series, it won't get anywhere if the first book doesn't sell in and of itself, so whatever makes it strongest. (How long are you envisioning your series ?)
Dresdenus Prime:
This would definately be one of those, "As long as I can think up good stories then I'll keep writing about this character," much like Dresden or Atticus of the Iron Druid Chronicles.
But sometimes in books, sort of like in The Dresden Files, there are enemies or enemy groups waiting in the shadows for their time to shine, for example the Black Council. This Villian I've been cooking up has a lot of history with the hero and would almost be like a, "look in the mirror and see your dark side," kind of character(Still tinkering with that), but I don't want to throw too much oomph into Book 1 and then have this villian be less interesting to readers down the road when he returns.
On the other hand like you say Neuro I want to make my book strong, and I think this antagonist and his history with my character would be a great addition to the story
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Dresdenus Prime on August 17, 2012, 04:06:53 PM ---This would definately be one of those, "As long as I can think up good stories then I'll keep writing about this character," much like Dresden or Atticus of the Iron Druid Chronicles.
--- End quote ---
I've not read the Iron Druid books and can't speak to their pacing, but Jim's said a fair bit to indicate that the large-scale story structure of the DF has been to some extent defined since before they saw print; there's new cool stuff coming in to them as he thinks of it, iirc Changes was around book ten on the original plan, and there was the DB/PG swap, but I do get the impression Jim knows where he's going in the BAT and the major beats that will hit between now and then, so I don't think of the DF as "will keep writing more about this character as ideas arrive" rather than following a larger plot that will ultimately have a defined resolution.
--- Quote ---But sometimes in books, sort of like in The Dresden Files, there are enemies or enemy groups waiting in the shadows for their time to shine, for example the Black Council.
--- End quote ---
I'd note, looking at the DF, that both SF and FM are fairly standalone; had the series not done well, I don't think only having those two of books, or just SF would have felt like a drastic lack of closure, and it's only in GP that the larger-arc elements get foregrounded. (I'd also argue that there's a notable change after DB in terms of how standalone the books are, and how much they feel like chapters of a larger ongoing arc, but I read that as having got from the beginning to the middle of the overall story.)
Indeed, thinking of the DF as a whole as a detective story, the Black Council were introduced in book 8, or a third of the way through, so I'm inclined to think we could be fairly close to a big reveal that Harry's totally wrong about there being a Black Council behind everything, and that their purpose in the series-scale mystery-plot is "initially plausible wrong hypothesis that the detective chases for a while and gets into deeper trouble thereby".
--- Quote --- This Villian I've been cooking up has a lot of history with the hero and would almost be like a, "look in the mirror and see your dark side," kind of character(Still tinkering with that), but I don't want to throw too much oomph into Book 1 and then have this villian be less interesting to readers down the road when he returns.
--- End quote ---
How much of that history would you want to get into book 1, then, and how much could legitimately be saved for later volumes ?
Dresdenus Prime:
--- Quote from: the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh on August 17, 2012, 04:37:57 PM ---How much of that history would you want to get into book 1, then, and how much could legitimately be saved for later volumes ?
--- End quote ---
There is the million dollar question. If this guy is the villian of book 1, I obviously need to reveal some history between him and the hero, for example the villian ran over the hero's dog, and now they are bitter enemies, but I can't just give everything away, because then what's the point of writing more.......of course this is just with one villian, whereas there are usually many.
But like I said my current plan is to make this guy one of the primary series villains, so I have to leave some of the mystery for later. Maybe instead of the primary villian I should cast him in more of a supportive role or cameo, where he's in charge of the villian going after the hero. I'm not sure. Stuff to figure out! That's why I'm here! ;D
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Dresdenus Prime on August 17, 2012, 05:22:24 PM ---But like I said my current plan is to make this guy one of the primary series villains, so I have to leave some of the mystery for later. Maybe instead of the primary villian I should cast him in more of a supportive role or cameo, where he's in charge of the villian going after the hero. I'm not sure. Stuff to figure out! That's why I'm here! ;D
--- End quote ---
A larger-scale series villain for whom the initial villains you see are catspaws could certainly be done, yes.
This may be just me, but I am rather drawn to the notion of relatively small-scale villains who, when defeated, plausibly fake evidence for a larger-scale villain, or traitor on the hero's side, who does not really exist, so that the hero then becomes somewhat paranoid and wastes time and energy looking for that traitor or villain.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version