Excuse me, Mr. Bad Guy. Why?

There’s nothing better than a creepy villain.

A deranged killer on the loose terrorizing your hero and heroine.

A madman who won’t back off.

A serial killer stalking his next victim.

Take your pick. The bad guy (or girl) can make or break a story. The antagonist isn’t a prop but a main character whose development is often overlooked.

Villains are fun to write. Yet, as writers, we tend to focus on the protagonists, creating elaborate backstories for our beloved couple. However, by doing so, we miss an important detail while we think up new ways to threaten our hero or heroine. We painstakingly figure out the goal, motivation, and conflict, or maybe the wound, lie, and fear of our main characters, but we miss the ever so important reason why our villain does what he or she does.

Does your villain have a backstory explaining the reason he or she has become a killer? We cannot forget to focus on the why.

The serial killer was neglected by his mother, and now he hunts and kills women he perceives to neglect their children. He transfers his feelings to these women to exact revenge on his mother.

Or the arsonist’s business partner finds out he’s dealing drugs through their company. He kills his partner and sets fire to cover up the crime and destroy the body. The hero or heroine unknowingly sees the bad guy, causing the arsonist to eliminate the witness.

Maybe the stalker was rejected by his high school sweetheart, and he is determined to exert power over any woman that reminds him of his first love.

Don’t shortchange your villain. Give him or her a solid backstory. And in the process of discovering the why, don’t forget to create weaknesses or vulnerabilities in the villain. By doing so, we can make the bad guy or girl human in the reader’s eye. This allows your reader to connect with your killer in a love/hate relationship or to feel sorry for the poor chump who’s out to wreak havoc on your hero and heroine.

So, go ahead, interview your bad guy. Discover your villain’s secret from his or her past? Find out what makes him tick. Make him or her human.

Remember, villains, are important people too.

What method do you use to create a villain that your readers love to hate?

Sami Abrams grew up hating to read. It wasn’t until her 30’s that she found authors that captured her attention. Now, most evenings you can find her engrossed in a Romantic Suspense. In her opinion, a crime and a little romance is the recipe for a great story.

Sami has finaled 15 times in writing contests, including receiving first place in American Christian Fiction Writer’s Genesis Contest in 2019 and Faith Hope and Love’s Touched By Love Awards in 2018. She lives in Northern California, but she will always be a Kansas girl at heart. She has a love of sports, family, and travel. However, a cabin at Lake Tahoe writing her next story is definitely at the top of her list.

Visit Sami at:

• Website:  Samiaabrams.com
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