Sentido plural

Gosh. Every time I watch, and Margaret is so rude, I’m just like ughhhh 😑😑

It can be hard to find that balance between a character that is too perfect for readers to love and a character that is too flawed for readers to relate to.

Something I like to remember when thinking of flaws to give characters is that very often, flaws can be positive attributes that are in excess.

(This is related to Aristotle’s Virtues and Doctrine of the Mean.)

FOR INSTANCE,

Courage is a positive trait.

But taken too far? That can lead to rashness, or recklessness, which are negative traits. And without enough courage? The character is meak, fearful and cowardly, which are also negative traits.

Here are some examples to think of for your characters of positive traits taken to the extremes.

Virtue- kindness

Excess-easily taken advantage of

Deficiency- selfishness

-

Virtue- ambition

Excess- greed/avarice

Deficiency- lazy

-

Virtue- honesty

Excess- harshness

Deficiency- secrecy/dishonesty

-

Virue- decisiveness

Excess-impulsiveness

Deficiency-indecision

-

Virtue- passionate

Excess- irritating

Deficiency- apathetic

-

Virtue- strong leadership

Excess- over-controlling

Deficiency- indifferent/passive

Show don’t tell? Ignore.

Basic grammar and punctuation? Unnecessary. 

Physical descriptions of characters? Don’t need to bother. 

Solid plot? That’s for later. 

The words don’t come as fast when you’re thinking of the best way to put them together. It doesn’t have to be pretty, or much more than inconsistent nonsense.  The point is to have it exist.

Congrats @positively-pan, your ask has been chosen as one of my Long Posts™. Sorry It took so long to make this!

Tips on How to Write A Good Villain

Oh no! It’s the big baddy!

They’re the worst of the worst!

They’re ruthless antagonists!

They’re ready to kill!

They’re………the weakest and most uninteresting character in your entire story.

A lot of the times when I’m reading, I come across books that are great. Their plots are amazing, their protagonists are believable and incredibly well-developed, but I find myself disliking them because the antagonists are, well, awful to say the least.

I don’t understand when it became a common misconception that villains don’t have souls.

“They’re edgy™ and don’t need souls, all they need to do is wreak havoc, take lives, and bask in sweet, sweet wicked malevolence”

This mindset has completely ruined many villains, especially in YA, because what people claim is “edgy” and “emotionless” and “evil” just comes off as “I was too lazy to develop this character.”

Yes! That’s right! Villains ARE characters, and that means you have to develop them just like all your other characters, and I’m talking the character charts and everything. The whole nine yards. Just because they’re the villain doesn’t mean you can slack, you bum.

There are, however, special measures you have to take to develop a villain that makes it different from developing a protagonist. So I’m going to list of some tips that will help make your villain just as great as your heroes!

1. Personality, Personality, Personality

Yes!!!! Villains have to have personality!!!! They’re characters!!!! How!! many!! passive!!! aggressive!!!! exclamation points!!! do I have to add!! to get this through everyone’s heads!!!!!!!!!!!!

“I can skip this step, Maddy,” you tell me smoothly, sliding a picture of your Man Crush Monday villain over to me with twenty bucks taped to the back.

I burn the picture and take the twenty bucks.

Here’s how you know your villain is underdeveloped/doesn’t have a personality:

If I asked you to write down all of your villains traits and you only have things like “Evil. Mean. Bad. Really bad. The baddest. [Insert synonyms for evil here]” then you have a problem.

Just because you’re character is a villain doesn’t mean they don’t do other things. Being a villain may be their life’s work, but they also do other things on the side; there isn’t a villain who should be only evil and nothing else.

Maybe your villain likes knitting. Fishing. Maybe your villain is very family-oriented. Maybe your villain is very smart. And I’m not talking cunning smart, I’m talking like geek/nerd smart; give me a villain who has a passion for history or marine biology or something! Do it, you cowards!

2. They Need to Have a Motivation

Like with personality, they can’t be doing what they’re doing to the protagonists “because they’re, like, evil”.

They need to have a reason to strive for what they’re doing. They need to have an incentive to perform all of these atrocities, need to have something that spurs them on to work for their goal.

Here’s a list of motives that you can choose from:

Money

Power

Love

Vengeance

Survival

Glory

Serve a master

“Save” humanity

Ambition

Persecution

Respect

Religion

New ideas

Status

3. They Need to Be a Do-er

Yeah, this book was great! The protagonist saved the day! The supporting characters were amazing! The antagonist…was just sort of there.

Nuh-uh. Nope. I will NOT stand for this.

Your villain has to be an active participant in the plot. They need to be doing everything in their power to keep the protagonists from defeating them/achieving their goal, and if your villain is just mentioned and never really does anything, what’s the point?

I once read a book where the antagonist didn’t do anything until halfway through the plot. Like???? No??? That’s not how it’s supposed to work?????

If they’re an antagonist, they need to be making obstacles for the protagonist. These obstacles are essential for your plot, which is the reason why your antagonist is essential for the plot; they need to create conflict like the antagonists they are!

We see them all the time - horses in fiction. And there is so much to learn about them that it can be a little overwhelming! But I work with horses a lot so I thought I’d be able to help some of you guys out by going through the basics you’ll need for writing. (by the way, I only ride English style. If somebody wants to do something similar for Western riding, by all means, fire away.)

Horses and ponies - whats the difference?

It’s the height. Horses and ponies are measured in hands - 1 hand = approx 4 inches. A pony is anything below 14.2hh,(hands), a horse is anything taller. Any pony smaller than 14hh would really only be suitable for children. A stockier 14.2hh could hold teens or small adults, but most teens and adults would probably ride horses. 16hh would be an average size.

Stallions, mares and geldings.

A Mare is a female horse. They can be quite moody sometimes - which they show by being uncooperative and putting their ears back. A Stallion is a male horse that has not been castrated. They can be very, very strong willed, and are typically not suitable for the novice rider. A gelding is a male horse that has been gelded/castrated, They often have a more relaxed, placid nature. A colt is a young male, and a filly is a young female. 

Breaking

Training a horse under saddle is called ‘Breaking.’ A horse is typically broken around ¾ years of age, once it has finished growing. Breaking correctly is a long and patient process - not something that your character can do in a few minutes.

Gaits

Horses have four gaits. Walk, trot, canter, and gallop - in that order of ascending speed. Nobody trots away from danger. if your characters are fleeing, they are in a flat out gallop.

The tack

For describing scenes - you’ll really only need to talk about the reins and the bit. Pressure on the reins (held by the rider) should slow the horse down. The horse feels this pressure acting through the bit. 

All you really need to worry about for the saddle are the stirrups, and the girth. The girth is holding the saddle on, and the feet go into the stirrups.

Learning to ride

Is difficult! Your character won’t be a pro withing a couple of days. Its hard on your legs, and learning to balance can be tricky too. Somebody who is very comfortable in the saddle is relaxed and secure, and able to deal with however the horse acts. The rising trot, when the rider goes ‘up and down’ in sync with the horses movement in the trot, can be particularly difficult.

Ability

The average gallop is around 45km/h. So, bear i mind that a horse cannot outrun a car or anything like that. Jumping ability varies - a heavier horse will struggle over a 90cm hedge, but a quality animal could easily pop 1.60m (but only with a good rider.)  If your character gallops the horse on hard ground, it could easily go lame - they aren’t invincible! 

Feeding

Horses don’t eat the same way as dogs or cats. They are grazers - meaning they need to eat little, and often. Your character giving them a Handel of oats once a day is really not going to keep them alive. They need forage - grass or hay - and a lot of it.

Portraying atmospheres

Showing how the horse is feeling can be a really great tool for expressing the ‘mood’ of a scene. 

Relaxed - A relaxed horse will have its ears back lazily, but not pinned against its head. It will likely doze off and close its eyes, maybe while resting a hind leg.

Alert - Horses are super smart animals, and many say that they have a sixth sense that lets them know when something is coming. An alert horse stands up straight, and has its ears pricked forward.

Upset - If something bad is happening, the horse won’t be in  good mood. It might pin its ears flat back against its skull, and bare its teeth. It will flick its tail irritably, and a horse will kick out or bite at something if its unhappy.

Horses as friends

Horses are deeply empathetic animals. They are herd animals too, and can form deep connections with their people. A horse who is fond of a person may whinny when they see them, and nuzzle their face and neck. A real trust can form between horse and rider. To show this as your story progresses, the horse will become pleased to be with the character, and the character’s nerves aboard the horse will begin to fade.

—–

If you have any more specific questions, feel free to message me. All of this is very basic, and I am more than happy to help some fellow writers. 

To me, writing is quite an intuitive process. I basically just follow my gut. Nevertheless, throughout the years, I’ve been able to develop a pretty effective routine, and I’m going to share it with you now!

Writing circuits. I don’t know about you, but I’m super lazy, and I also love to procrastinate. So, instead of writing for three hours straight, I split this time into little circuits and plan them throughout the day. Let’s say I’ll write for an hour in the morning, then an hour and a half in the afternoon and so on. It’s also incredibly beneficial for your health – both mental and physical.

Have a plan.  I’m a discovery writer, and I don’t really outline that much. But as I go about my day – eg. when working out, or running, or cooking, or eating, or sitting and doing nothing because of this procrastination right – I think about what I want to accomplish. And I usually ask myself the following questions. What is the purpose of this scene? Which characters should appear in this scene? Should it be more visual or more internally-focused? What actually happens? How should I describe it? Thanks to this, I have a general plan, and I’m much more motivated to actually write instead of visualizing that scene in my head (we all know this, don’t we?).

Write. Then I write. I write whatever pops into my head. I don’t care if it’s logical. I don’t care how many times I use abruptly, saw, felt, etc. I just allow my imagination to create this story.

Notes. When I end my final little session, I usually leave some comments for myself. What’s going to happen next, what’s the next big thing I want for my characters, etc. Having these notes makes everything easier; I immediately know what I’m supposed to do.