Writing Despicable Characters

[doug anderson]

I know that something about bad guys has to be likable. I would imagine I could even find something about Dick Cheney that is likable if I actually met him -- although I don't want to meet him: I prefer to judge him by his actions. I'm afraid of being charmed. But writing bad guys is tough for me. I have them prejudged. I know they're scumbags before I start out, and this sometimes gives me trouble. I'm thinking of characters written by great writers that fail in this regard: Don John in Much Ado About Nothing: he's the most uninteresting character Shakespeare every wrote.

At present I'm trying to write a guy who obviously has charm and can deceive people, but I'm struggling. I simply don't like him.

Anybody have this kind of trouble?

[Jack Getze]

It helps me when I remember -- and keep reminding myself -- that every character thinks he or she is the star of my story.

[Jon Loomis]

Do you get to write from his p.o.v.? It's a lot easier to win over readers if you can. If you're doing first person or single p.o.v. third, it's trickier--but you can give him a couple of winning attributes that make him less of a cut-out: give him a sense of humor, or make him really good at something unexpected.

It's also okay if he's despicable--if he has superficial charm (maybe he's got TV-star good looks, or something) that wins over gullible people, but doesn't fool the reader. I don't see a problem there.

[doug anderson]

I can work his POV even in third person. My problem is that I hate the guy: he's a human trafficker and arms dealer. I'll keep working.

[Jon Loomis]

Make him interesting: readers don't have to like him. Neither do you. They just have to want to follow him through his scenes.

[I. J. Parker]

Give your villain a reason for what he does, or for he has become.

[John McFetridge]

As long as that reason grows organically from his/her circumstances and availble options.

It's not like someone goes onto a job search website looking to become a human trafficker and arms dealer. It's not the kind of profession people start at the top so usually they have years of working their way up making small justifications daily until they are in so deep they likely believe them. Sometimes in human trafficking it's like child abuse where victims grow up to be abusers. A sad number of the women brought to North America to be prostitutes were recruited by women who had themselves been prostitutes (recruited isn't really the right word, but the system itself is complicated).

Or, they're sociopaths. There are some socippaths in my novels. I sometimes scare myself how easily I can get into their skin and think about doing things for personal gain with absolutely no regard for other people.

But it's what writers do, right? Right?

[doug anderson]

This one began as a corporate lawyer and advanced to arms and people dealing. He's a sociopath. I'm aware that sociopaths know how to charm. I just have to alter my attitude toward the character, put myself in the position of being sucked in by him.

[doug anderson]

Re: slipping in to the skin of a sociopath. I think the reason Dexter works so well is that there's a little Dexter in everybody.

[I. J. Parker]

Dexter doesn't work at all for me.

[John McFetridge]

I haven't actually seen Dexter, but I have real trouble with the premise. It sounds like vigilante justice meted out in a graphic way. A serial killer who kills bad guys - it sounds like someone trying to sell me "nutrious ice cream," and me pretending there's really such a thing.

Now, lawyers involved in arms dealing I can accept quite easily ;)

[doug anderson]

I think you actually have to see it. And he's not the only character that works.

[Jack Getze]

Try it, John. Not what you think. Dexter is a wonderfully complex character, struggling to find his emotions, his humanity. The vigilante aspect is very minor, not at all what the stories are about.