How to take your characters to the next level: The antagonists

I love villains.

I’m so excited for this post, I cannot even tell you.

Villains are some of my favorite characters to write. In fact, my college admissions essay was on this very subject: Why villains are more interesting than heroes. A hero doesn’t need a reason to be good. The reader knows why they are being good. Everyone understands goodness is good.

But why is a villain bad?

Every villain has a reason to do what they do - some justification they tell themselves, some almighty cause or anger about injustice or drive for revenge. I won’t say every villain needs to be sympathetic to the reader, but I will say every villain needs to be sympathetic to themselves.

I’ll be using <spoiler>Calix Lehrer,</spoiler> the villain of my first book, The Fever King, as an example.

Let’s dive in.