In more than one of the many writing classes I completed,
the instructor would note at some point, “the villain is the hero of his own
story,” the antagonist has as strong a motivation as that of the hero. In the
opponent’s mind, what’s behind his/her actions is as compelling and just and right—albeit
sometimes quite twisted—as that of the hero or heroine’s. This point is usually
followed with a reminder to give the villain a chance to explain his/her deeds.
A number of ways exist to do this:
- The story can switch between the villain’s and
hero’s point of view
- A character may share what they know of the
villain’s life to describe events that shaped him/her into the antihero
- Giving the villain a chance to explain their
world view to the hero—usually while holding the hero or heroine at bay with a
gun, bomb, or other weapon and often as part of the climax
In the two recently released stories, I chose the third
method for both.
In my recently re-released Russian thriller,
Saving
Hope, the villain is someone the heroine trusted, and she finds herself
negotiating with him to save her daughter’s life. At one point, he explains his
actions as:
“I
thought I finally had all I wanted, but you ran away. When I saw you with Ahmed
and those other men, I knew I had to fight for you, or lose you again. I was
the one who told them about the FSB. It almost cost me my deal.”
