Character Outlining 101: How I Outline Villains

All right, it's time for another session of character outlining. This time around, it's the villain! What's your villain like? You don't know! So that's what we're here to work out.

If you haven't already read part 1 of this series, Outlining Characters 101: How I Outline Characters (A Simple But Effective Format), click here to read it before you continue.

Ultimately, writing villains is the same as writing any other character. After all, they're people too, with allergies and preferences and blood types. But to outline a villain, there are a few key things to include that you wouldn't include in most other character outlines.

So let's begin! Villain questionnaires start the same as any other:


Name
Age
Appearance
Likes
Dislikes

And it's here that the outline starts to change. The questions above are the basics, stuff that I would consider necessary knowledge for almost any character. 

So at this point one will probably once again launch into the 'About' section. For me, the 'about' section for a villain would not be as long as the one for a protagonist or other main character, but since this is the character that is going to oppose your protagonist and help drive the story, it's still important to know plenty about your villain.

Some things I would definitely include in the 'about' section for my villain:

How they behave when they're angry
How they make their plans
How much trust they put in other people
What they do when they're happy
Things they enjoy doing
How they feel about children/animals
Familial relationships
Talents and abilities
Fears


And feel free to add anything else you feel might help you flesh out your villain. It's your character and your outline. Change it up. Make it your own.

To finish it off, answer these final wrapup questions:

What made them who they are now? (Did they choose it or was it forced upon them? Would they change it if they could? Does anything make them regret their current way of life?)

What drives them to do what they do?(what is their 'want'?)

What is their central flaw?

What is the lie they believe that causes that flaw?

What happened to them to make them believe that lie?


And definitely make a mood board for them. You know you want to. ;)

Again, if you haven't read the first part of this series, you can read it here. Once the series is complete, I'm going to release a downloadable PDF that you can print up and use for all your characters! Be sure to keep an eye out!

Well, that will be all, see you next week!