Wednesday, June 15, 2016

WRITING VILLAINS by F.M. Meredith

WICKED WEDNESDAY
Please join me in welcoming F.M. Meredith as my guest on Wicked Wednesday.
 
As a mystery writer I’ve created my share of villains. However, sometimes the guilty party in a story isn’t really villain, but rather someone who reacted in a violent way to circumstances.
Most writers have been told that a hero or heroine shouldn’t be all good and a villain shouldn’t be all bad. I suppose that’s true in many cases, but if you’re writing about a sociopath or a psychopath it might be difficult to come up with a “good” trait to give them.
Most readers, myself included, seem to favor characters who have a bit of wickedness in them. And it’s also fun to really hate a bad character.
One of the worst characters I ever wrote about—and I had fun doing it—was a really bad police officer. He was nothing like the police officers who get in trouble today; this guy had no redeeming qualities. And yes, I based him on a police officer I knew many years ago, but made the character far worse.
Of course there have been other true villains in many of my mysteries, but in others, the person who committed the crime didn’t fit the definition of a villain.
In my latest book, I have two villains. One is a convicted criminal, Omar Padweitz,  set upon getting revenge, and the other is Elford Lemus, the leader of an odd religious sect. I had fun writing about both of them and giving them what I felt were appropriate names.
F. M. Meredith who is also known as Marilyn Meredith
Blurb for A Crushing Death:
A pile of rocks is found on a dead body beneath the condemned pier, a teacher is accused of molesting a student, the new police chief is threatened by someone she once arrested for attacking women, and Detective Milligan’s teenage daughter has a big problem.

Marilyn Meredith aka F.M. Meredith
Latest Books: Not as it Seems and Violent Departures
Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

12 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for hosting me today, Brenda. This was a fun topic.

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    1. It's great having you on Wicked Wednesday, Marilyn!

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  2. And A Crushing Death is on my to read list :)

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  3. Love it Marilyn, exactly the type of character I've been creating for my next book...Thanks. Marcia Rosen (M.Glenda Rosen)

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    1. I had fun writing this post as well as writing my bad guys (and gals.)

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  4. Like you, Marilyn, I have fun creating bad guys and gals in my stories. It's even more fun, however, seeing they get what's coming to them at the end.

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    1. Yep, in our imaginary worlds we can make sure the bad guy gets what he/she deserves by the end.

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  5. I love my bad guys almost more than I love my good ones! So far, I seem to find that sisters make great villains... at least in two of my books. For the new series I'm working on, I have some really bad bad guys... those psychopaths you talked about seem to single out my heroine, Skylark. You're right, it is hard to find redeeming qualities in them, but I'm working on it... Thanks for a great post, Marilyn!

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  6. Let's face it, Susan, writing bad guys is just fun!

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  7. Marilyn, would you consider making me an Irish terrorist. I know bad guys or gals can be fun to create, but you know you either have to kill them off, send them to jail or possibly let them escape to reappear in another story in your series. I know when I first watched TRAINING DAY, I thought not another cop bashing movie, but then he was turned into a real bad guy and eventually offed. That made it okay.

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  8. I don't think an Irish terrorist would turn up in a small beach town--I've already got you pegged.

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