This year the CRAFT OF WRITING blog is focusing on Aspects of the Novel, such as Plot, Dialogue, Characterization, etc. In January, James Scott Bell walked us through a discussion of Voice, and last month DiAnn Mills gave us insight into Plotting.

This month, I’m excited to welcome my good friend and colleague Debbie Burke back to the blog. Debbie is the multi-award-winning novelist of the Tawny Lindholm Thrillers with Passion series.

When I learned that she was writing a craft book entitled The Villain’s Journey, I asked her to come on the blog and talk to us about Antagonists. Now this should be fun!

Incidentally, Debbie received a major honor recently when her latest novel, Deep Fake Double Down, was named one of the five fiction finalists for the national BookLife Prize of 2023. Congratulations, Debbie!

So get ready. It’s time to meet the bad guys.

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Once again, we’re doing something fun for this interview. The name of each person who enters a comment will be put into the drawing for the unique “Wilbur and Orville 1903” Propeller pen, hand-crafted by my friend and colleague Steve Hooley. The pen is made from Ash, one of the woods the Wright brothers used to build their first aircraft. So join the conversation and earn a chance to win. I’ll post the name of the winner after 9 PM Central Time tomorrow night.

(Previous 2024 winners are not eligible to win.)

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Welcome back to the Craft of Writing blog, Debbie, and thank you for joining us!

Kay, I’m happy to visit your terrific blog again and reconnect with your readers.

Last month, I was the lucky winner of Steve Hooley’s stunning propeller pen. The quality and beauty are fabulous. Thanks, Kay and Steve!

First off, what is an antagonist? Does the antagonist always have to be a person?

Merriam-Webster defines antagonist as: “one that contends with or opposes another : ADVERSARY, OPPONENT”

An antagonist is a character, situation, or event that stands in the way of the protagonist reaching his or her goal in the story. An antagonist can be a mass murderer bent on world domination; or someone as benign as a mom who says no when her teen daughter wants to stay out late with her boyfriend.

Villains are antagonists but antagonists are not necessarily villains.

To answer Kay’s question, the antagonist does NOT need to be a person.

Natural disasters offer great obstacles in fiction, e.g., tsunami, earthquake, wildfire, a meteor hurtling toward earth, or even a great white shark (Jaws).

Political upheaval and war inspired classics like Gone with the Wind, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Dr. Zhivago.

Economic and social issues are antagonistic forces that drive great literature. Think of Charles Dickens, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and John Steinbeck.

Weather can serve as an antagonist. In my thriller, Dead Man’s Bluff, a hurricane knocks out power and causes flooding while the main characters are searching for a missing friend. Storm dangers could kill the heroes before the human villains in the story ever get a chance.

Epidemics make frightening antagonists because deadly disease can strike anyone. Examples are The Plague (Albert Camus), The Andromeda Strain (Michael Crichton), and Outbreak (Robin Cook).

In my sixth book, Flight to Forever, the pandemic is the antagonist that triggers all complications in the story.

What characteristics define a villain?

Villains come in many different flavors—liars, cheats, thieves, backstabbers, stalkers, bullies, psychopaths, killers, etc. That’s why they’re so much fun to write. Author Ruth Harris says, “There are more ways to be bad than there are to be good!”

I think all villains share two basic traits:

1. They believe they are righteous and justified in their actions.
2. They are willing to harm others to achieve their goals.

Villains can be brutal like Captain Bligh (Mutiny on the Bounty) or charming like the talented Mr. Ripley. Some are gutless cowards like Fredo Corleone who betrays his brother Michael in The Godfather Trilogy.

Michael himself starts as a war hero who wants to protect his father, Vito. Vito also began with righteous motives of defending his community against thugs. But both become ruthless villains who wield power and wealth to destroy enemies.

Does the antagonist have to be introduced early in the story? And does he/she have to be known to the reader as a villain?

In traditional mysteries, villains are generally not revealed until the end, although they usually appear earlier. Readers enjoy working along with the sleuth to solve the puzzle, putting clues together, narrowing down the suspects. The villain should be well disguised but hiding in plain sight, present enough in the story that the savvy reader might figure out his/her identity.

If, at the end, an author suddenly pulls a surprise villain out of thin air (the unknown Great Uncle Charlie who just arrived after three decades in Argentina), readers feel cheated because they didn’t have a chance to solve the crime themselves. An author has to play fair, or readers resent it.

In detective/police stories, solving a crime often means a long, painstaking investigation, following leads. Toward the end, they finally close in on the villain whose identity may not be known until s/he is arrested. That’s fair because of the nature of that genre.

Suspense and thrillers are a little different. The villain is often known immediately. The reader’s question changes from “Whodunnit?” to “How did they do it?” or “Are they going to get away with it?”

People love to hate the villain, but is it possible for readers to feel sympathy for or even attraction to the antagonist?

Oh, absolutely! To me, the best villains are the ones who feel like real people, not cartoons. They may have been abused or terribly scarred by someone or something in their past. A tragedy may have twisted them until they view life and other people in a skewed way. They may have experienced a loss they never recovered from.

A villain evokes sympathy when the reader thinks, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

The villain can also represent the secret, dark desires hidden deep in most people. The villain gets to do what we wish we could do if we weren’t restrained by consequences, the law, or moral beliefs.

How does a good writer approach creating the antagonist character? Are there exercises a writer can use to develop their villain-creating talents?

A technique I like to use is James Scott Bell’s voice journal. Let the antagonist write out their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. What are their deepest, most secret desires? Give them the opportunity to express their frustration, anger, and hatred. Putting their emotions into words helps the author get inside their skin and understand why they feel their behavior is justified.

Interview the villain/antagonist. Ask questions. What is their background? How did their parents treat them? Were they bullied or abused? What early losses or failures scarred them?

Another Jim Bell tip: have villains argue their case before the jury that will decide their fate. What compelling arguments can they offer to save themselves from the death penalty?

Give us some examples of antagonists you thought were well-written.

I like antagonists who are self-aware and tormented. They feel they must do what they must do but are conflicted about it. Michael Corleone is a good example.

Memorable villains stand the test of time. I still remember reading A Tale of Two Cities in junior high school where Madame DeFarge knits her list of enemies. Her family’s destruction caused understandable, righteous anger. But revenge consumes her until she feels justified in punishing even innocent people who never harmed her family.

Anthony Hopkins created an unforgettable Hannibal Lecter in the movie version of Silence of the Lambs, but the book delves deeper into the psychology. Lecter burrowed inside people’s brains, knew their thoughts, and anticipated their behavior. Reading about that personal invasion felt enormously creepy.

Can you tell us the status of The Villain’s Journey? Do you have a publication date yet?

Tell us more about you. Outside of writing, what other things are you interested in?

Since writing requires waaaay too much time sitting on my rear, I need to exercise often. Zumba is great because it’s a cardio and mental workout that helps concentration, balance, and coordination. Plus, it’s fun. Interestingly, zumba classmates are big supporters of my books.

Living in Montana, hiking is mandatory. I don’t go as far or as fast as I used to but being in nature is still the ideal combination of calming and energizing.

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

Please visit debbieburkewriter.com. There are sneak peeks of each book in my Tawny Lindholm Thriller series. They are available at Amazon and major retailers or support your favorite independent bookstore and ask them to order.

Every other Tuesday, you can find me at The Kill Zone (following Monday posts by my friend Kay). I also write about funny, interesting, or unusual news stories on True Crime Thursday.

Thank you, Debbie, for being with us today.

Kay, it’s always a pleasure to answer your wonderfully challenging questions!

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Meet Debbie Burke

 Debbie Burke writes the Tawny Lindholm Thrillers with Passion series. She is a regular blogger at The Kill Zone, a popular website about crime writing. Her nonfiction articles have won journalism awards and appear in national and international publications. She is a founding member of Authors of the Flathead and helps to plan the annual Flathead River Writers Conference in Kalispell, Montana. Her greatest joy is mentoring young writers