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IWW
Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: Villains Make The Story (Version 2)
These exercises were written
by IWW members
and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its
members.
You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that
you found
them at the Internet Writers Workshop
(http://www.internetwritingworkshop.org/).
Prepared by Carter Jefferson
Posted on January 7, 2007
Posted on June 29, 2008
Revised and Posted on July 12, 2009
Reposted on August 22, 2010
Reposted on March 11, 2012
Reposted on July 7, 2014
Reposted on July 9, 2017
Reposted on February 14, 2021
Reposted on February 11, 2024
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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write at least the
beginning of a story or memoir in which we see a villain
at work and learn something of his or her motivation.
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Villains come in both sexes, in all shapes and sizes.
Some know they're doing harm for their own benefit,
while others think they're doing the right thing, even
though someone will suffer. Every mystery has a villain
for the hero to hunt down. They are common in novels of
every genre.
Not all villains have curly mustaches. The schoolyard
bully might be one; so might a designing woman or a man
intent on getting what he wants. Family members have been
known to hurt each other physically or emotionally. Some
villains are subtle, using their offices in corporations
or government to help one group of people at the expense
of others. Some villains have redeeming features, and
sometimes readers find them engaging.
There's Inspector Javert, who believed in enforcing the
law at all costs. Hannibal Lecter liked to eat the census
taker's liver with fava beans and Chianti. The Big Bad
Wolf ate Grandma, but couldn't keep her down. The evil-
doers in Lord of the Flies are children. In Ann
Patchett's Bel Canto, revolutionaries are the villains.
Read Shakespeare for a veritable gallery of villains,
one of whom was an ambitious lady who lived in Scotland.
Most of us will write about villains of some kind at
some point. Let us have the beginning of a story in which
you let us see the villain at work and give us some idea
of what prompts those evil deeds.
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In your critiques, let the writer know how well the
villain is portrayed. Is the character evil through
and through, or simply someone tempted beyond
resistance? Is the sin something truly villainous, or
just an inadvertent error that causes someone pain? Is the
motivation clear? Would you read more to see what
happens? And, of course, critique the writing in general.
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.
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