Villains

The villain has to be one of the main ingredients of a story. Just as cookies or bread won't rise without flour, neither will your story if there isn't a resistance to your hero's journey. It's also like biking. Yes, you can bike a few miles, but it won't really be an interesting story if you don't encounter glass, roadkill, branches, or (worst of all) hills.

Villains come in all shapes, sizes, approaches, and even species. Scar from the Lion King isn't any less a villain than Mr. Wickham or Lady Catherine DeBourgh from Pride and prejudice, and vice-versa. The question is: What type of villain do you want? They need to be a solid fit to your story, and a hard obstacle for your hero to face.

Let's examine the parts of a villain's role:

1. Basic personality.
            A. Strength.
            B. Flaw.
            C. Skill or hobby that may be useful later on.
2. Motivation.
Why do they want to get the girl, steal the painting, or destroy the world (or all three at once)?
3. Lifestyle.

Basically, look at the hero's template, and fill it in with the villain's answers. But you can do all this, and the villain will still turn out flat. One way to solve this is their approach. The modern Sherlock's Moriarty is a cold-hearted murder, but he isn't all bluster and anger, in fact he can be very awkward (besides the fact that he sounds like an old British woman).

Here are some tips on making a villain stylish:
Make them sympathetic:
"That’s how villains get you, she (heroine) knew. You feel badly for them, and next thing you know, you’re tied to train tracks." - Catherine Valente, The girl who fell beneath fairyland and led the revels there.
Make them see them have their own philosophy:
"Fair is foul and foul is fair." -William Shakespeare, Macbeth.
"Shakespeare's villains are fabulous because none of them know that they are villains. Well, some of them do."  -Ian McKellen.
Make them capable of being a hero:
"History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villains keep changing parts." - Ian Flemming.
Either make them entertaining and loveable, or someone you really want to kick in the mouth:
Which would you rather hang out with, Loki or Ronan?
Establish their personalities:
If they're quiet and only resort to violence as a last resort, when they start yelling and swinging battle-axes around you'll know that they (A) mean business, (B) have broken out of character, or (C) have lost their minds.

As a side-note, not all villains have to be alive. Take the storm in The Day after Tomorrow. It isn't a living creature, or the weapon of a living creature, it's just a storm. But it poses extreme threats to the hero's quest of going to New York City to save his son and his son's quest to survive and keep the people around him safe. The storm even makes some problems that aren't exactly part of it's weather pattern, such as releasing a pack of hungry wolves from the zoo.

So have fun!
(P.S. If you run out of ideas, just find a fluffy white cat and start stroking it.)

  

Creating a setting

You've probably heard the expression "All the world's a stage".

Well, in writing, it really is. Any amount of the world can be your book's stage. It doesn't even have to be in this world. It doesn't even have to stay in one place.
Setting, besides being pretty cool sometimes, is also a good way to influence the mood of a story. Going through Mirkwood wouldn't be so depressing if it hadn't been so repetitive. It seems like you're going in circles, and that there's no end to the dark forest. In contrast, the Shire is like the perfect home. Friendly neighbors (except for the Sackville-Bagginses), simple moments, peace and plenty, it's everything a hobbit could ever want, so readers identify with Bilbo and Frodo in wanting to protect (and return to) the Shire.
There are various approaches to setting, one of which is to go all out (Victor Hugo), or to just give a basic description (C.S.Lewis) and leave the reader's imaginations to work out the details. But It's not really profitable to skip out on description.
We want to know where we are. The events should be influenced by the setting. A battle on a mountaintop is going to be different from a battle in the catacombs of Rome. A man proposing to his girlfriend in the rain near a subway tunnel in New York City is going to evoke a different mood from him proposing on a beach in the Bahamas.
Here are some pointers on putting setting into your book:
1. Consider what type of scene is happening and who is going to be there. Would this particular combination of characters clashing be more dramatic here or there? Would a detective unknowingly meeting a bank robber in a park be as interesting as them meeting in a bank elevator?
2. What is happening outside the character's situation?
Present: Is there a lady with a couple of screaming kids in the same area as the detective and robber? Is there a fugitive running from the police?
Grand scale: Is there a shortage of money or food happening? Has the unemployment rate gone up? Review your story line.
3. What is the weather?
Is it raining, snowing, or is it sunny and in the eighties? Is the river flooded, or is there a drought?
4. What time of day is it?
A sword fight at midnight, with either dim lighting or no lighting at all, is going to influence the fight differently than a sword fight in broad daylight.
5. What is the state of the setting?
Is it a daily-cleaned mansion or an abandoned warehouse?

Where your characters hang out also defines their personalities. The goblin king, Gollum and Thranduil live in caves, yes, but very different kinds of caves.

Where would your characters hang out? Where would they be uncomfortable? Where is home?

Heroes and heroines

 Hero (hir-o):
1. A person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities.
2. The chief (male) character of a story, play, movie, etc.

Heroine (hir-o-in):
1. A woman noted for courage and daring action or special achievement in a particular field.
2. The principle female character in a novel, poem, etc.


We all have heroes. Whether they're real or not isn't the question.
If you're writing, fiction, or non-fiction, chances are you have a hero you're writing about. Or maybe you still need a hero. Above I've listed the dictionary's definition of a hero, but shouldn't it go a little deeper? From different points of view, the person whom thousands despise could be counted as a hero by the above listed rules. So what really makes a hero?

1. Basic personality.
Sad. Confused. Witty. Just pick an adjective and build off that for a personality. It's actually very effective to put some of your own personality into a character.
           A. Strength.
           B. Flaw.
           C. Side abilities that may be of interest at a later date.

(A tip from Tolkien: The hero has, or will achieve, a cardinal virtue for one of their strengths.)

2. Situation.
Where is that character now in life?
Are they driving a convertible through Paris, or are they flipping hash-browns in a fast food joint?

3. Appearance.
This goes beyond the 'blonde hair, blue eyes' general idea, though you should begin with that simplicity. What shade of blue are the eyes? Icy blue or gray-blue? Does the hair curl or is it straight? How does it normally look? Messy or greased? Dyed?
What type of clothes do they wear? What is the state of these clothes? He could be wearing a tuxedo with rips in the elbows and stains on the lapel.

4.  Where do they hang out?
Does the millionaire movie-star hang out with the kids on his street or with people in expensive lobster and caviar restaurants?

As you answer these questions, it will probably help build the character's personality. They might even surprise you.

Preparing to write

Okay, so I've been trying to write a story for 4+ years (not the same story, that would be 2+ years), and only recently I've established a general idea of what helps me write:

1. Solitude.

 Sometimes I find myself acting out expressions or mumbling lines I'm considering to use. Being alone makes this a whole lot less awkward.

2. Music.

There have been scientific studies that suggest that music helps some people concentrate, while some people need absolute silence, etc.

3. PRACTICE.

I have never finished a story. I've set a goal to get at least one book's first draft done by the end of the year. You won't get very far if you don't set goals.



But what if you sit down to write, open a notebook/laptop/whatever, revved to go, then- nothing?

You stare at the blank space for an eternity, but any idea that comes to mind sounds dumb, like something you wouldn't want to hear a month later, but you really want to write and you've got to get this done before dinner-time and nothing's working and all you see is this:

 

BUT NOTHING'S COMING!!!

I've been there, believe me.

Here's some hints to avoid writer's block/stress paralysis:

1. Experiment.

Experiment with what time you sit down to write, where you write, what's around you when you write.

It does make a difference.

2. Be prepared, but flexible.

Don't just sit down to write. Sit down knowing what you want to write about. It doesn't have to be choreographed. You can write a scene from the end or middle, then work on the beginning later.

3. Don't delete unless it's something you really will regret.

I made a decision a while ago when I used notebook paper to write. I was going to use a pen. I know it doesn't sound big, but actually it forbade me from erasing what I wrote. No matter what I wrote, it was staying. Then I made myself save the papers. Now I can look at what I wrote and compare it to what I have now. Sometimes it's rather helpful.

 

If you just don't feel motivated to write, do something new.

I was going through writer's depression once, then I saw Guardians of the Galaxy. It gave me just enough positivity to get through another few months of writing.

 

Feel free to comment your questions!

Bye!