Villains & Villainy

Villain Motives Made Easy
How to work out what makes your villain tick.

Tips To Create & Write More Interesting & Believable Villains
How to write villains that will catch and hold people's attention.

Mindsets & Rationales That Lend Well To Villainy
Realistic and plausible reasons for characters to be vile villains.

How Good People & Well-Intentioned Groups Can Go Bad
Why and how people and groups can become bigoted, corrupt, oppressive, and noxious over time.

How To Create And Write An Arch-Nemesis
The lowdown on writing a memorable and lasting arch-nemesis.

Advice & Tips On Creating & Writing Bullies
How to create and write believable bully characters of just about any variety you can think of.

On Writing Abusers, Abuse Victims, & Abuse Situations - Revised February 5, 2021!
Because there are a lot of misconceptions about abuse and such.

What Writers Need To Know About Liars & Manipulators
Many writers don't really understand how lying and manipulation works very well, and their characters' behaviors aren't even close to authentic. Here's what you need to know to avoid these mistakes.

Basic Tips To Write Better & More Despicable Villains
A collection of tips on writing villains.

MORE Tips To Improve Your Villains
Even more tips to make your villains more vile!

Villain Tips: Of Conquest, Minions, Progress, & Planning
Things to think about and consider concerning villainous plans to take over, why their minions actually follow their orders, how they do their dirty work, and what they were thinking when they were laying out their evil schemes.

Things About Brainwashing Writers Need To Know
Things what brainwashing can entail, who can be susceptible to it, and how it can be undone.

Things About Cults Writers Need To Know
Stuff about creepy, destructive cults that writers ought to know about.

On Designing & Writing Oppressive Governments In Your Fiction
What to know when you're writing an oppressive government - whether it's an evil empire or just one rotten country.

Factors That Contribute To Abusive & Dysfunctional Systems/Institutions
Various factors that often lead to a system or institution becoming dysfunctional or even abusive.

How To Write Sympathetic Antagonists Without Endorsing Or Excusing Their Actions, & Without Making Your Protagonists Seem Heartless
If you're going to write a sympathetic antagonist, it's very important that you try to avoid either one of these problems!

How To Redeem A Villain
How to plausibly redeem a villain without making excuses for the villain's terrible behavior.

How To Keep People From Admiring & Idealizing Your Villains
It's always awkward when people get the wrong ideas about your villains. Here are a few things to try to reduce the odds of that.

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