Suspense & Mystery
Shane P. Carr, Associate Editor, Suspense & Mystery
Issue #1: 01/01/01
Making
Histories
By J.S. Burke
Women
and Childbearing
in Fantasy
By Bryn Neuenschwander
Matching
Your Money to Your World
By Ron Brown
Capturing
Time for the Muse
By Vicki McElfresh
In
Praise of Praise:
A Second Look at Critiquing
By Lazette Gifford
Fantasy:
Building
a Better Beast
By Sarah Jane Elliott
Horror:
State
of the Horror Genre
By Ron Brown
Poetry:
Poetry
and Everyday Life
By Jennifer St.
Clair Bush
Romance:
Your
Characters Are
Not Puppets
By Anne M. Marble
Science Fiction:
Are We
Going Somewhere
Nice?
By Bob Billing
Stage & Screen:
The
Promise of Premise
By Robin Catesby
Suspense & Mystery:
The
Motives of Villains
and Heroes in Suspense Fiction
By Shane P. Carr
Young Adult & Children:
The
Gulf
By Justin
Stanchfield
Young Writer's Scene:
Five
Practical Tips for Young Writers
By Beth Adele Long
Book Reviews
Web Site Reviews
How
Critique Circles Work
By Jim Mills
Doggerel Contest Winner
News from Forward Motion
The initial reaction that a story must elicit from the reader is empathy -- the vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, and attitudes of another person. The first person with whom the reader should have empathy is the novel's lead character the protagonist.
Dean
Koontz
How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction (Chapter
17)
Edited by J.N. Williamson
©1987
Writer's Digest Books
ISBN: 0-89879-843-8
Unleashing the Dark Side
The
Motives of Villains and Heroes in Suspense Fiction
By Shane P. Carr
©2001,
Shane P. Carr
Have you ever wondered how a suspense writer brings his or her characters to life in such a way that the characters cannot help but send chills down the reader’s spine? Did you ever wonder what the author’s mind must be like to think up such a twisted, sadistic character? Would you believe me if I told you that it was the character’s humanity that really sends those chills down your spine? Yes, believe it or not, it is the human side of such characters that make the hairs of your neck stand on end.
Let’s take Tom Harris’s Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ Lecter for example. Do you really think Dr. Lecter would have been nearly as terrifying if he didn’t have such passion for Agent Starling? Think about it. Imagine Lecter instead as a ten-foot flesh-eating monster that did not resemble a human in anyway. I’ll be the first to admit a flesh-eating monster can be scary, but it wouldn’t have unnerved you on that inner psychological level. If you let yourself think about it for a minute, you will realize that it is the fact that Lecter is human and responsible for such atrocities that is really unnerving you. The fact that Hannibal Lecter could be your everyday physician or the neighborhood mailman is what really makes people terrified of him. In Silence of the Lambs the author makes readers see the dark side of humanity, that inner evil that has the potential to manifest itself in each and every one of us.
This potential for inner evil is what all suspense writers should focus on when creating their villain. After all, it is the manifestation of this dark side of humanity that becomes the basis for your entire story. Now, this doesn’t mean that your villain has to be a flesh-eating serial killer with a taste for fine wine and art. The villain can be an anti-hero like a parent who has lost a child to drunk driver. The loss of the child could be what manifests the character’s dark side. The character could then become obsessed with avenging the child. Perhaps the character (let’s call her Carol) begins hanging out at bars watching which individuals drive after drinking. Carol then follows them home. As they step out of the car she runs them down and kills them.
Now, some readers will sympathize with Carol. Others will see her as having a screw loose. Either way, the author has made a suspenseful character. Carol is very human, yet the tragedy involving her child has manifested her dark side and driven her to kill. The fact that Carol, an average mother who has never harmed a fly, could become a killer is what will scare the reader. Readers will relate to Carol, yet they won’t like the fact that they do.
Carol is just one example and a far cry from Dr. Lecter. Yet what if I told you that, as a child, Hannibal Lecter lived on a farm. What if young Hannibal had a lamb on the farm that he considered a pet? Hannibal wakes one morning to feed his lamb, only to find a farmhand slaughtering it for the market. Hannibal’s father tells him the lamb will be used for food. The death of the lamb triggers that dark side within Hannibal. He soon rationalizes that instead of eating other animals it would be better to eat his own kind. Heck, from the animal’s point of view I’m sure it seems like a good idea.
Now
we see Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ as a tragic character that was scarred
by the loss of a pet. Suddenly Hannibal is not all that unlike Carol. Each
has suffered a traumatic loss, and in their minds they are bringing justice
to the situation.
When
creating a suspense villain, the writer must look into the motivation of
the character. The writer must develop the villain as human first. He must
understand what his villain’s life was like before the dark side
manifested. The writer then must figure out what leads to the
manifestation. Once this is done, the writer can begin writing about this
character and his dark manifestation.
In
most suspense stories, the villain’s motive is not revealed until the
climax of the story, yet the writer must know what that motive is before
writing the first word. The villain’s motive will help drive the story.
The writer can reveal clues along the way and help the reader draw his or
her own conclusion as to why the villain is doing such things.
This
is where the writer can play with the reader’s mind.
As the writer builds his cast of characters, he can create other
characters that may also have a motive for committing the crime. This will
keep readers guessing as to who the real villain is. This of course
adds suspense, to the story and that is really what suspense writers are
shooting for.
So
far we know we must have a normal human side of our villain so we can get
our readers to relate to him. We must have a motive that manifests the
dark side within the villain. Finally we must know that motive before we
begin to write. Accomplishing all of these things will bring the character
to life and give him greater depth.
Since
we now have a villain, we of course need a hero. In suspense fiction the
hero is usually a police officer or private detective investigating the
case. There are other professions that work just as well; for example, Patricia
Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta is a forensics pathologist. Use whatever works
for you. The hero is, for the most part, on the side of the law,
seeking out the dark manifestation in order to halt its actions.
The
hero's views will usually oppose the villain's, although you will
sometimes find that the hero will relate to the villain's human side,
especially in the case of Carol, which we discussed earlier.
You
should have your hero’s motivations in mind before writing, as well. Now,
on the simplistic level this could be: Tim became a cop to fight crime. Yet if you want the character to become three-dimensional,
you must give him more of a life.
Suppose
Tim became a cop because his father was a cop. Perhaps his father was
killed by a serial killer that he was investigating at the time. The
serial killer was never caught. Six years later the killings start again.
Tim has since become a cop like his father. Fate finds Tim on the trail of
the same killer who murdered his father.
See
how we are adding depth to the hero. We now have a background on Tim. We
have Tim’s motivation for being a cop. We also have something else . . .
we have the potential for a dark side to manifest in Tim. What happens as
Tim pursues the serial killer and eventually confronts him? Does the dark
side manifest in Tim seeking vengeance for his father’s death or does
Tim’s motivation to honor his father, by being a good cop, cause Tim to
arrest the killer and bring him to justice?
See
how we now have two characters on opposite sides; the suspense builds, and
the story climaxes with the confrontation of these two characters. Situations like this will keep your readers glued to the page
in hopes of seeing the outcome. Yet none of it works unless you know your
two characters and their motives. You,
as the writer, must get inside each character’s head and fully realize
what is driving the characters in their actions. If you can do this,
the plot for your story should begin to develop quite easily. You’ll
then be on your way to creating a nail-biting story that can get under
your reader’s skin.
To
help you along, I offer a simple exercise. Watch your
favorite movie or reread your favorite novel. While doing so, examine the
hero and the villain. Write down each character’s motives. Then write
down the things that make you relate to the character. Think about the
villain’s motive and what lead up to it. If you were in a similar
situation, could a dark side like this manifest in yourself? Could you
become this villain?
On
the other side, think of the hero. What drives him or her?
How easily could this ‘hero’ manifest a dark side to stop the
villain? Are the hero and
villain alike in any way? Do they share a common trait?
When you’re finished, try developing some characters of your own. Develop some motives for the villain and hero. Let the dark side manifest from the villain and drive him toward his goal. Do a similar exercise with the hero. Give the hero the temptation of the dark side. See what kind of plot you come up with. I think you’ll be surprised.
