Writing with a strong villain

How far is too far when it comes to proving how villainous your villain is? 

I've noticed that there is a lot of room for variation in this area. In Star Wars, Palpatine seemed like a friend and developed into a foe. Anakin was a friend, then a foe, then a friend again. There's a lot of story to be told in the transition through all of those gray areas and interactions. I have a number of characters I'm working on that play with this dramatic area because it shines a light on the conflict within each of us between darkness and light.

Palpatine is purely evil, but in the novels we learn that he was desperately trying to rescue his sector of the galaxy from an even greater outside threat.

We can learn not only from villains, but from rivals. In Phineas and Ferb, Doofenshmirtz (Evil Incorporated) is a bit of both but is also a loving father who is very human and simply hilarious. He is a central character around which gigantic chunks of story depend.

One of my favorite writing techniques is when the hero and his or her nemesis are in conflict and then find themselves needing to become allies in order to face an even greater threat. In like manner, oftentimes in life we find ourselves needing to rely on, or find opportunities by working with – people who have been difficult in the past. I'm playing around with a time traveling character who discovers he is his own nemesis, but also his own salvation. Aren't we all.

My advice in life, and also in writing characters is to keep your eyes open and don't burn those bridges because change is not something that might come, it's something that will come.

by Dave Pierik