The Book Vortex

Villains can make or break a book. Not every book has a specific character that is the villain. Sometimes the villain is a group of soldiers and guards who are governed by a man the character will never meet, like in Between Shades of Gray. Sometimes it’s the society you are apart of, both the one you are born into and the one you wish to belong to, like in Out of the Easy. It can even be a virus that has made the entire world into Unconsecrated and a Sisterhood that is supposed to protect you, like in The Forest of Hands and Teeth.
There are times though when the villain is very identifiable. Take The Eternity Cure for example. The villain, Sarren, is a chilling vampire who is completely out of touch with reality and will only do things for the better of himself. It doesn’t ever matter to him how things will affect others he only wants what he wants and won’t let anyone at all get in his way. That is part of what makes him such a strong villain. He doesn’t care. Unlike the other vampires who understand that humans are essential to the vampires survival, and there is the rare vampire who is still in touch with their human side *cough* Allie *cough*, Sarren doesn’t care about any of that. He wants revenge and he will take it in anyway that he can. He loves causing pain to others.

In my own Work-In-Progress (Will further on be references as WIP) I have a character that is very difficult for me to write. I am a naturally kind hearted person and gentle soul. I don’t like conflict, I do like for everyone to get along. So for me writing a villain is so hard. Almost every time I write a scene that includes my villain I send my critique partner (CP) a message on how I can’t do it.
One time after countless messages about how I cannot write my villain she asked me why. She really made me evaluate why it was so hard to write him. Then while I was going through the list she pointed out that every single reason I listed was why he was a great villain. She pointed out that the reason why I hated him so much was because I was doing my job as a writer. So then she asked me why I had a hard time writing him.
Then I realized it’s because of my own personality not his. Like I said I am kind and gentle and I am quiet. I don’t ever like for people to be made at me and I do not like bringing attention to myself. To me writing my villain, even though he is a character and not me, is still a reflection upon me. Instead of being able to identify and realize that even though I am writing him and his words are coming from me he is still a character. He is not me. I was so worried when writing him that people would look wrong at me as if I said the words that he said.
At the time of this conversation I had only just finished reading The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa and so Sarren was fresh on my mind. My CP knew this. She asked me whether or not I looked down upon Julie Kagawa because she wrote Sarren. Whether or not I looked down upon Victoria Schwab because of her villain in The Archived (Villains name will not be released because it’s a surprise! Go read the book!). The answer to both was no I didn’t. It was a story created by the authors. A story they had to tell and so I could not judge them for creating fantastic characters.
After our conversation I realized that I won’t be judged because of the way my villain acts, even if he is a little messed up and sick and twisted, because that’s what I am supposed to do. I am supposed to write out my characters the way they truly are and my villain is truly messed up.

So let me know how your favorite villains were written. If your currently in the middle of your own WIP let me know what your challenges have been!