How To Build A Better Villain

(Or Any Other Believable Character For That Matter)

by Christina Westcott

In my latest book, the villain, Janos Tritico, is so driven by the desire to gain ultimate control of the Scyran Empire, that he’s willing to form an alliance with the alien Tzraka. Half a century earlier, humanity waged a devastating war against these creatures, a conflict in which Tritico himself was nearly killed. What type of person would lust for power so fiercely that they would be willing to destroy everything they sought to gain total control of it?

That answer can be found in an intriguing personality typing system called the Enneagram. Its origins are thought to date back to the ancient Middle East, but it came into modern prominence in the self-help boom of the 1980s. A fellow author turned me on to a book entitled Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery by Don Richard Riso as a guide to put together believable personalities for the people who lived in my books. I’ve used it so often my copy is dog-eared, held together by tape and full of underlines, yellow markers, tea stains and cat hairs.

The Enneagram separates personality types into nine distinct numbered groups and this book further divides them by Healthy, Average and Unhealthy, with personality traits and motivations listed for each. I chose to make my villain an Eight, often called the Leader or the Boss. Oddly, this is the type where we’re most likely to encounter the Alpha Male. Healthy Eights are magnanimous, heroic and able to inspire others. They seek power, but to use it for the good of humanity. Conversely, the Unhealthy Eight also seeks power, but for his own twisted reasons and he doesn’t care what he has to do to achieve his goals. The two sub-groups are mirror images. A Neurotic Eight is the most destructive of all types, while the healthy individuals can be among the most magnanimous and heroic.

We want our characters to grow, or disintegrate, in response to the changes we put them through, but to transform in a way that is consistent with their personality. After all, an introverted artist type wouldn’t deteriorate into a megalomaniac—or if they do, you’d better give us a good reason why it happened. The Enneagram supplies us with a glimpse into our character’s personality traits as he rises to become the hero (Luke Skywalker) or steps to the Dark Side (Darth Vader).

http://www.enneagramcentral.com/OnlineTest/testa.htm

http://www.enneagramquiz.com/quiz.html

These are a couple of sites to take the Enneagram Personality test for yourself, just for fun, and then as your character. Once you’ve established their type, you’ll be able to find a wealth of information on how they’d behave and craft a richer, more complex character.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this guest post are solely that of the author and not of the SFR Brigade

 

 

 

 

A Hero for the Empire: Book One in the Dragon’s Bidding Saga

Warning: Space is no place to go it alone. We recommend taking along a telepathic cat, an immortal mercenary, and a cybernetically augmented Imperial SpecOps agent. You never know what kind of trouble you’ll run into…

Blurb: Commander Kimber FitzWarren is running on borrowed time. The cybernetic augmentations that give her superhuman strength and speed have also shortened her life. The success of her next mission is imperative, not only to save her Empire, but because this operation could be her last. She and a cabal of idealistic officers are plotting to topple the corrupt Imperial government. The key to placing missing military legend Arianne Ransahov on the throne lies with the one man who can find her, mercenary Wolf Youngblood.

Having just survived an Imperial assassination attempt, Wolf is understandably on edge when Fitz shows up in his bedroom at 0-dark-30. Except she isn’t there to kill him, but to plead for his help. Help he’s reluctant to give—until another assassin pushes the issue. Pursued by Imperial forces, left with no one to depend on but each other, a passion grows between them that even their secrets can’t destroy.

But before they can explore what’s left of their futures, they have to survive this mission.

Bio: As long as she can remember, Christina Westcott has had imaginary people living in her head. Cyborgs, mercenaries, wizards, dragons and cats. Lots of cats—shape-shifting cats, talking cats and telepathic cats. After continual nagging from this weird cast of characters inside her, Chris decided to turn them loose on the world in her science fiction and fantasy stories.

She’s been an collector of not only books and cats, but of experiences, riding in rodeos, driving racecars and flying airplanes. All good experience for becoming a writer.

She lives in sunny Southwest Florida where she delights in telling all her friends “up north” the local temperature in the middle of January and she proudly wears the moniker Crazy Cat Lady. She and the cats are hard at work on Cypher, the second book in the Dragon’s Bidding Saga, where we find out what happened when our heroes returned to the Empire and tried to live their happily ever after—not an easy job for two Imperial cyborgs.

You can catch her on her website at http://www.christinawestcottauthor.com or at http://www.facebook.com/chriswestcott33

Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Hero-Empire-Dragons-Bidding-ebook/dp/B00KNPC1KY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406210280&sr=8-1&keywords=a+hero+for+the+empire

Barnes and Noble. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-hero-for-the-empire-christina-westcott/1119633306?ean=9781619223547

Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22396223-a-hero-for-the-empire?ac=1

Character Descriptions – Lessons from Jane Austen

by Aurora Springer

I recommend the novels of Jane Austen for examples of memorable characters and romance stories with long lasting impact. Jane Austen wrote her stories more than 200 years ago, yet they are still read and loved today. Why are her books so readable? One reason is that Jane described ordinary people in ordinary settings. You will not find details of historical dress or mannerisms. In many ways, she was a very modern writer, her works lack the florid, emotional, and lengthy descriptions employed by the Victorian authors.

Her stories were romances, filled with her unique light hearted and caustic wit. Her characters resonate today. Mr. Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice” fits the romantic ideal, even among modern young women. He is tall, handsome and wealthy. Many of Jane’s male romantic characters, however, were not wealthy landowners, tall or handsome. Several were clergymen of modest means. In “Sense and Sensibility,” Edward Ferrars rejected his wealthy inheritance when he refused to marry the woman his mother chose. He followed his principles, even though he could not wed Elinor, the woman he loved, because he was engaged to an inferior woman due to a youthful infatuation. A love triangle! The male leads in Jane’s stories demonstrate heroism by doing what is right, despite the personal disadvantages.

How did Jane Austen create her memorable characters? Her stories rely on dialogue with little action. She gives minimal physical description. Instead, she describes distinct personalities that we recognize from our everyday lives. Her descriptions are pithy; she can define a character in a single, eloquent sentence.

Here is her first description of Mr. Darcy at a ball: “Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance of his having ten thousand a year.” A billionaire romance! But, Jane has set him up for a rapid fall: “…he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity…” Even his ten thousand does not save him.

In contrast, look at Edward Ferrars in “Sense and Sensibility”: “He was not handsome, and his manner required intimacy to make them pleasing.” In fact, he is shy and awkward, and possibly the least likeable love interest in Jane Austen’s stories.

If we follow the example of Jane Austen, we should emphasize the personality of our characters and minimize the physical details. Cattell’s 16 factors may inspire ideas -(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16PF_Questionnaire#Raymond_Cattell.27s_16_Personality_Factors). Of course, in science fiction, we often need detailed descriptions for aliens or other worlds. The great advantage of emulating Jane Austen is that much of the narrative falls into place once the personality of the character crystallizes in your mind. You can imagine how they will react to other characters and the conflicts in the story. I love that moment of insight when I can begin to compose the scenes of the book.

Aurora Springer’s latest release is GRAND MASTER’S PAWN.

Blurb

A thousand years in the future, wars and portal failures disturb the fringes of the galaxy. On Terra, twenty-two year old Violet Hunter seems an ordinary student of the Space Academy, who dreams of exploring unknown planets. She applies to serve as the pawn of one of the twelve Grand Masters, although her hidden talent of empathy makes her ineligible. Violet has defied the prohibition against psychics for half her life. Why should she stop now?

Isolation is the penalty for a Grand Master’s great power because their touch is deadly to a normal person. The Grand Master with the griffin avatar selected the girl with the star-shaped birthmark in spite of her father’s dire prophesy. He is suspicious about his disobedient pawn, yet he cannot deny the success of her missions to strange planets where she finds more than he expected.

Violet seeks the truth about the mysterious Grand Masters. Who or what are they? Do they threaten or benefit civilization? While searching for answers, Violet does the unthinkable. She makes a bargain with her obnoxious Grand Master and challenges him to meet her face to face, risking her secret to discover his purpose. She plunges into an impossible love and a world of intrigues. She needs all her new powers and allies to survive the vicious conflicts and save her newfound love.

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TP1N5PM

Bio:

Aurora Springer spent her career in science describing new discoveries in research articles. In 2014, morphing from scientific research into fiction, she achieved her life-long ambition to publish her stories. Her works are character-driven romances set in weird worlds of science fiction and fantasy with a sprinkle of humor. She was born in the UK and lives in Atlanta with her husband, a dog and two cats to sit on the laptop. Her hobbies, besides reading and writing, include outdoor activities like watching wildlife, hiking and canoeing.

Media links:

Blog: http://AuroraSpringerNovels.blogspot.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Aurora-Springer/e/B00K2C4NL8

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aurora-Springer/885945434752937

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AuroraSpringer

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101087717415198221200/posts

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this guest post are solely that of the author and not of the SFR Brigade.

Archetype Is Not A Dirty Word

Courtesy Master isolated images
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In September 2012, while at a writer's conference, I had a major light bulb moment. My heroine at the time was giving me fits, and I couldn't nail her down to save my life. Because of that issue, and knowing I always struggle with creating heroines, I decided to do a class all about heroines.

I'd been exposed to the idea of archetypes before and had read some of the Joseph Campbell stuff. But none of his archetypes really stuck with me in a way I felt I could use. While in this class I learned about some I'd never heard before, and everything clicked.

The teacher used archetypes put together by author Tami Cowden. For heroines she has Boss, Seductress, Spunky Kid, Free Spirit, Waif, Librarian, Crusader, and Nurturer, along with examples for each from movies. The class handout included Tami's description for each type. My heroine I was fighting at the time is a Librarian. Once I read it she made complete sense and stopped fighting me.

First thing I did when I got home (after sleeping for 13 hours) was go to Tami's website to see what else she had hidden there. Lo and behold there was a page with Hero archetypes! Now we're talking. I'm all about the hero when it comes to a romance. I don't fight with them like I do my heroines, but I had begun to notice a pattern in how I constructed my heroes. (She has a page for villains too, and ebooks that go into more detail.)

Her hero archetypes are Chief, Bad Boy, Best Friend, Charmer, Lost Soul, Professor, Swashbuckler, and Warrior. These make more sense to me than the Hero's Journey archetypes.

Once I read this page and clipped it to my Evernote so I'd always have it, I could put a name to the pattern I was looking at in my heroes. I love Warriors. Here's her description:

A noble champion, he acts with honor. This man is the reluctant rescuer or the knight in shining armor. He's noble, tenacious, relentless, and he always sticks up for the underdog. If you need a protector, he’s your guy. He doesn’t buckle under to rules, and he doesn’t go along just to get along. Think Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, Russell Crowe in Gladiator, Mel Gibson in Braveheart.

Every hero I love in books and movies is a Warrior. If he's a wounded Warrior, all the better. Give me a hero with a noble heart, who is a gentleman to his core, protective of the ones he loves, and able to put others' needs before his own and I'm hooked.

My second favorite hero archetype is the Lost Soul. He usually shows up in my writing as one of the hero's closest friends and I can contrast them. It's a lot of fun. Archetypes aren't restrictive, either. There's infinite variety to play with within each form. Then there's the mixing you can do with having a dominant archetype and a secondary archetype. You're limited only by your imagination.

What's your favorite archetype for a hero?

Rachel Leigh Smith is a romance writer, a geek, and a Southern belle. She lives in Louisiana with a half-crazed calico named Zoe. When not adding words to an SFR novel she’s reading paranormal romance or crafting while watching some type of SF on TV. She’s still unpublished, but hopefully not for long. She also blogs sporadically at www.rachelleighsmith.com and hangs out on Facebook.

Lessons From Frozen

Frozen

WARNING: This post contains spoilers for the movie Frozen. If you haven't seen it yet and don't want it spoiled, come back after you've watched it.


I'm one of the millions of Frozen fans. This movie has resonated with audiences in a way Disney hasn't done since The Lion King. The music is amazing and each song advances the plot, the characters are engaging, and it's a story about sacrifice. But it's not the main character everyone loves. It's Elsa, the older sister.

Why are so many people in love with Elsa? It's not just because Idina Menzel works her vocal magic, though the popularity of "Let It Go" is definitely thanks to Idina's magic, and the lyrical beauty of the melody and words. (Big fan of Idina Menzel, in case you haven't figured it out.)

We love Elsa because we see something she doesn't know about herself. We root for her to overcome these things and see herself the way we do. This is accomplished with a lie Elsa believes about herself. Lies happen to be my favorite way of building characters. Frozen is one of the best movie examples of character lies since The Patriot starring Mel Gibson.

Elsa's lie is born in the movie's opening when she accidentally almost kills her little sister. Her parents teach her a mantra: Conceal, don't feel. Don't let anyone in. Be the good girl and don't lose control. This mantra, combined with what happened to Anna, leads to her believing she can't trust herself. If she's not perfect the people she loves will be hurt by her power, and could even die.

She's exposed at her coronation and flees the kingdom. If she stays everyone she loves will die. In the process she sets off an eternal winter, which sends Anna after her to bring her back and melt the frozen world. Except Elsa doesn't know how.

When working with character lies, by the end of the novel (or movie) the lie must be broken so the character can grow. Elsa's lie is built on keeping her emotions frozen. There's one more element at work in Frozen, and it's the can't/won't. Elsa can't control her power, and she won't let anything happen to her sister. By the end of the story the character has to do the one thing they can't, and the one thing they won't. Along the way she gets herself imprisoned because she won't let Anna be hurt. However, she doesn't see that by cutting herself off from Anna she's hurting Anna. That's how powerful her lie is and how strongly it's attached to her need to keep her emotions frozen so Anna won't die.

At the midpoint Elsa's lie is reinforced when she once again hurts Anna. This time by shooting ice through her heart, which will kill her if it's not thawed. A frozen heart can only be thawed by true love. At this point you may be rolling your eyes because it's time for the prince to ride in and save the day with true love's kiss, and that's what Anna thinks has to happen. But here's where Disney breaks Disney stereotype. Anna's heart is thawed when she sacrifices herself to save Elsa. There's more than one kind of true love, and sacrificial love is the most powerful of all.

This sacrifice, and seeing Anna embrace emotion, breaks Elsa's lie. When the lie is broken she gains control of her power and thaws her kingdom.

Elsa resonates because she's real and three-dimensional. Viewers are rooting for her to be who we know she can be, and this formula has created a blockbuster that's been in theaters since Thanksgiving. As I'm writing this, two and a half months after its release, it's still playing four times a day at my local theater. Using these techniques in novels also creates characters readers can't get enough of. As a reader I connect most with characters who believe a lie. It's also way fun to write and makes the story that much richer and deeper.

Want to know more about lies and how to use them to build great characters and stories readers can't put down? Check out The Character Therapist archives, and this post in particular.

Rachel Leigh Smith is a romance writer, a geek, and a Southern belle. She lives in Louisiana with a half-crazed calico named Zoe. When not adding words to an SFR novel she’s reading paranormal romance or crafting while watching some type of SF on TV. She’s still unpublished, but hopefully not for long. She also blogs sporadically at www.rachelleighsmith.com and hangs out on Facebook.