FIVE Reasons I Hate Your Bad Guy #ACFW #AmWriting #ASMSG

A few days ago I shared Five Reasons I hate your Hero. So today I thought I would expand on that with Five Reasons I Hate Your Bad Guy. Let’s face, many genres live or die with the bad guy. Think of some of the great movies. James Bond, Batman, Iron man, they all have one thing in common- Great Villains. But not all villains are great. If I hate reading a book with a bad hero, trust me, I’m even more annoyed when I read one with a bad villain.

But what makes a bad villain…? What is it that makes me slam the book shut and say I can’t take this junk anymore? As usual I came up with five.

Clichéd:

I HATE villains that are nothing more than a cookie cutter bad guy. You know, they’re the ones that are just a strong stereotypical copy. Much in the same way I hate a Hero that is a clone of a past hero; I hate a bad guy being a carbon copy of some other great one. Not all bad guys have mommy issues, not all were bullied or saw their families killed before them. Give me a fresh perspective on evil. Think about it, there is still a Hannibal Lector still out there undiscovered…

Un-Intelligent:

I hate stupid bad guys. Think of Home Alone. Now I get it, the bad guys stupidity made the movie the comedic hit that it was, but not all bad guys are stupid. They plan ahead. They don’t make Chessy mistakes that get them caught.

Now I love the show Castle. It’s one of my favorite crime dramas. But Sometimes I get annoyed because I feel as if the bad guy, the one that did it, just comes out and says so when being questioned. Bad guys, the real ones, they wait for their lawyer. They’re not stupid.

Weak Motivation:

Think about what pushes your bad guy to do what he does. There has to be something, some are plain crazy yes, but not all. Is it revenge, anger, loss of control…? Give me something- To use my Shrek analogy from my last post- Give me layers.

I remember when I was reading Stephen Kings novel Under the Dome. Not necessarily my favorite, but it had one of the most irritating bad guys. Big Jim Rennie. Now Big Jim from the TV show is a little weak, but Big Jim from the book- He is just plain evil. What was Big Jim’s motivation? Simple- Power, control, influence… He craved it. He was like a Jim Jones on steroids.

Not All are Evil:

This brings me to a point that many don’t seem to get. Not all bad guys are really evil. Some are confused, others are on the wrong side and just don’t realize it.

Let’s take Darth Vader for example. Evil- You bet. But as time goes on we start to see he really isn’t that evil, he still has a bit of humanity left in him. And it’s that humanity that makes him weak.

Let me give you a good measure tool for evil. Stalin. Write out the character traits of Stalin and then match your character up to them. If they are a match, then your character is evil. If not, there has to be something else you need to show the reader. I think villains that aren’t truly evil are the scariest. Look at Jack Torrance from the Shinning. Evil- No. Disturbed- Yes.

I don’t Hate Them:

Yes, you heard that right… I want to hate your bad guy. I want him to stab me in the gut emotionally. I want your character to make me slam the book shut in anger. I want to put his face on my dart board and… Okay, maybe I went too far. But you get the point.

I hated Big Jim in Under the Dome. I hated Voldemort. I hated Draco Malfoy’s father. Great villains make us hate them. But it is that hate that drives us to love them.

Again, I don’t claim to be an expert on any subject. I have just suffered through too many books where the villain is a joke. So think about what it is that makes you write them to begin with.

As always- Happy writing, happy reading… J.J.

Writing Prompt… #ASMSG #ACFW #WRITINGPROMPT

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I must confess. There are very few shows my wife watches that I find myself getting into. But she finally found one that for some strange reason has held my attention, and that is Downton Abbey. Maybe it’s the time period, or the behind the scene lives of the servants, or maybe it’s just the changes the characters experience in the world around them. Either way, despite a few plots that have been repeated, I enjoy the show.

So that got me thinking, what if I was a guest at Downton Abbey. What would I wear? Would I be invited to socialize in the drawing room or shown to my quaters that would be tucked down at the end of some dark hall.

So think about that for a moment. What if you were a guest at the castle above? But not just a guest, an unwanted guest…?

Five Reasons I hate Your HERO… #ACFW #AMWRITING #ASMSG

Nothing irritates me more than when and I get about 100 pages into a novel and realize I literally hate the hero. It happens, and I’ve seen it happen dozens of times. The author will start off great, pull me right in, have me hooked, and then BAMM!!! Everything changes and the main protagonist does something that just leaves me laughing. So, today I made a list of the things that make me HATE a HERO… Now understand- In all cases there are exceptions to these rules. John McClane and Jack Bauer break just about every rule- But hey, I’m a guy and they are special.

THEY ARE NEVER TESTED-

One of the things that drive me crazy about a hero is that they are never truly tested. To many times I read something where the hero gets into a pretty ugly situation and finds his way out to easy. Getting chased, or into fight, even getting shot is not being tested. I want to see him put through the ringer. I want to see him pushed emotionally and have his way of life just completely stomped out.

NOTHING LIKEABLE

I hate unlikeable characters. I get it, he’s a tough dude. He’s got an edge. He wants to come off as a jerk. That’s fine. But give him a quality that makes me care about why I’m reading his story. If there isn’t anything to like about him within the first fifty pages, wait, the first twenty pages I’m not going to bother going on.

TO MUCH PAST

Boo hoo, he had a bad childhood. Heck, I had a bad childhood. But I don’t sit around and whine about it all day long. In fact, I don’t even talk about it. I don’t flash back to those bad nights when mommy and daddy were fighting in the living room (Oops, I just did). Having a bad life or past is relevant. But having pages upon pages of revisiting what happened is just annoying. Say it, wrap it up, and move on…

TO RELIGIOUS-

Wait! Did I just say that? A deeply religious person. That’s right. Nothing is more cheap then a Hero being motivated by his faith, philosophies, or political ideas. Unless it’s post-apocalyptic or  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington I really don’t want to hear it. Those are parts of a characters life that may motivate him, yes, but I need to know what else is driving him. There has to be a little more to him otherwise he’s just an image on a page with no layer. Remember Shrek? “Give me layers.” 

THEY ARE A CLONE-

Is it James Bond, Indiana Jones, Han Solo, STOP IT!!! Don’t give me a clone copy of someone else. If you come to me and your pitch is – It’s Han Solo in an Amish Zombie book I’m going to laugh. (Wait! That would be pretty cool) My point is- Don’t just clone your hero. Sure those are great characters, and you can use them as a foundation to build your own, but go further… Add something, develop them more…

Now- I’ll admit it. I’m not an expert on writing. No one really is. But I am a reader, and take my advice or leave it. Doesn’t bother me one bit. At the end of the day these are the things that annoy me. That’s all…

Happy Writing everyone, and happy reading.

A Brand New Year – #ACFW #AmWriting #ASMSG

I hate and love New Year’s resolutions.

I hate them because I only seem to keep but a few. Maybe I set to many goals, but that brings me back around to why I love them. Because goals keep us moving forward, give us something to aim for.

I come across a lot of people in life that have no ambition, no desire to move beyond what is ordinary. I guess I’m a little different simply because if I was forced to live the same life day by day with no change I would go crazy with boredom. Call the white coats to come and take me away, staying idle to me is a mark of insanity.

But hey, that’s me. Staying idle is perfectly fine with some folks and I give it up to them. But I don’t tend to be satisfied with simplicity.

So here are my resolutions. I break them up into several different categories. Faith, Family, Writing, and of course the one we all seem to always have- Fitness…

FAITH:

Those who know me understand and respect the fact that my faith is an important part of my life. It’s such an important part that it naturally becomes a part of all aspects of my life. Therefore my goal this year is simple. My sister in law Jessica got me the NLT One Year Chronological Bible for Christmas; a really nice one. Leather bound and all. I have read the Bible through its entirety once in my life, and I hope to do so again this next year. In fact- I started on Dec 26th so I’m off to a head start already.

FAMILY:

I love my family. My wife Ashley is my best friend and the most caring and understanding person I have ever met. She has blessed me with an amazing son who I love and cherish. Our lives are very busy. At times work, church, and other things get in the way of us spending time together. So this year I plan to sit aside a night every week where the three of us can do something together. No iPhone or ipads, nothing but the three of us hanging out together. I’m also planning a monthly date night every month with my wife. I don’t want to miss the chance to be with them ever. We only have so little time to grow with one another. The impact I make today could be the most memorable one.

WRITING:

Now that the two most important aspects of my life are out of the way lots talk about writing. I have set goals for 2013 and my writing. I achieved three of the four I set out. (NaNoWriMo was a bust). This year I’m publishing four Novellas’ I wrote in 2013. The first to come in March, then May, July & then October. The titles are-

My Friend Louie

Vampire Mormon

The future Voices of Ellis Creek

Sixty

I also have a goal to finish my new project that I’m currently about half way done with.

FITNESS:

I’ve never been much of a fitness nut, but when you reach 36 you start seeing a small gut begin to appear. This past year I cut pop / soda out of my life for the most part. I use to be an extreme addict drinking up to five or six cans a day. Today I can last a day and week without having the craving return. My goal is to work out more. Last year I bought the DVD collection “Insanity” and completed the 60 day workout regiment 1 ½ times. I seriously thought I was going to die the first two weeks, but I did manage to make it through one entire cycle without ever quitting. And guess what? During those 60 days I never felt better. I was more awake, had more energy and my mind was clearer to write. In fact I did my best writing during the second month of the program. So I want to get back into that starting this week.

Well 2014 will be an exciting year for me. As I said four publications I’m releasing, getting in better shape, more time with my family and God. I hope that when December 31st comes back around I can look back at this post and say- I did it.  What about you?

Happy New Years, Happy Writing…

Five Reasons I love to Write #ACFW #AMWRITING #ASMSG

Why do you love to write…?

Someone once asked me that question… Now I need to be honest; it wasn’t a question I had ever considered before. Writing is simply something I have always done. Kind of like breathing, it’s just natural and automatic. But I think that’s a question every writer should ask themselves. Why do you love to write…? Why do you spend countless hours working on a scene that may never see the light of day or earn you a dime? What’s the reason for all your efforts? 

I have been telling stories since I was real young. I was a closet writer in high school, writing sci-fi short stories that were mostly set in the Star Wars universe. (Yeah- I was that cool) But I never showed them to anyone. Maybe it was a lack of confidence or the fact that I wasn’t very good in school and I was embarrassed by my poor grammar. Regardless, I have always loved telling stories.

You see, in high school I lived within the pages of stories. They weren’t words on a page to me, they were more than that. They were characters I loved.  They became close friends to me. You know? The ones you only know for a moment in life. You may never see them again, but the impact they leave is forever priceless.

I had desire to know who they were and what they were doing next. I wanted to know the conflicts that impacted their lives because I knew that it would impact mine as well. You see, to me there is nothing better (Outside of my times with God and Family of course) then cracking open a book, and getting lost. Because when you’re lost in the pages it feels safe, it feels right, and it feels free. So when I think about it I realize there are hundreds of reasons “Why I write.” But for the sake of time I picked only five.

I Love Stories:

As I said earlier, I love getting lost in the pages. I love seeing a world begin or end right in front of me. You see I have one goal when I write. I don’t want to write mere words on a page. I don’t want to pen a bunch of quotes that wow folks. The reason is simple. If people see the prose, then they see the words. Words distract, words show weakness, and words tell the story. My goal is pull the reader into a story where they see, feel, hear, taste, smell everything that is going on in story. I want them to ignore the words and never notice they are there. Because I believe, like me, others open a book to get lost in a story.

It’s a way to express my feelings and views:

Sometimes the only way we as writers can express our feelings is through what we type on the page. Within the lines we plant our pain, our love, our loss, and our thoughts. Some think that this is some lame attempt to manipulate a reader into agreeing with us. Some even accuse us of jumping on a soap box and preaching our worldview. Seriously, get over it. We write, we express, we move on.

I love getting lost in a world:

This goes along with number one in a sense, but it is much different. I remember the first time I ever read the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, visited Narnia or got lost and found in The Wheel of Time. Finding yourself lost in a world is one of the greatest gifts a writer can give a reader. Because for a fraction of time, you’ve left everything behind.

I love exploring the “what if…?”

Is there anything better than asking what if…? We’ve all done it. Heck, we do it in our lives. What if I had married this person? Or what if I had gone to school here? What if I hadn’t gotten fired or shot that guy…? Okay, maybe not that extensive but we’ve done it. It’s human nature. That’s one of the great things about writing, we get to take characters and ask those very questions.

I want to see people moved…   

I think one of the last reasons I enjoy writing is I get to see people moved. Think back to that book you’ve read recently, the one that touched you and made you want to turn back to the beginning and just start over. That’s what I want people to feel when I write. There are some books that just seem to have a special touch to them. No matter how many times you sweat over the pages they never seem to lose that magical touch. The words always feel as though they are fresh.

Now I could think of a thousand more reason why I enjoy writing, but in the end it all comes down to one thing. I simply love to tell stories.