Villains are people too!

Last night, I read a friend's manuscript. We normally don't critique, but when we're in a pinch or need a fresh eye on something that's been giving us trouble, we'll read for each other. Her problem...not enough words and she was looking for places to beef up the story.

There are usually places a writer can expand or deepen a story, but the amount of words she needed was significant. When that's the case, you can only add so much until it feels, well, like fluff or a research dump. What's really needed is a new thread or subplot with a secondary character.

This particular story is a romantic suspense. The hero, heroine and their inner circle were wonderful, three dimensional characters, but the villain, along with anyone else from his world, seemed to come straight out of Mobster Casting 101.

The scenes from the villain's point of view (POV) were so stereotypical, I cringed. I've never seen The Sopranos, but my first thought was the writer should rent it along with The Godfather movies. And reread Debra Dixon's brilliant GMC book. But I knew where my friend could beef up her manuscript. Taking the villain's characterization deeper would get her the pages she needed. Plus make the story a more interesting read, too.

Maybe it's just me, but I love a well-crafted villain. Key word...well-crafted. Nothing annoys me more than a cardboard stock bad guy, especially when a writer goes into their POV. Use that opportunity to show us who this person is. What drove them to where they are now? What keeps them on this dark path? It will be easy to show us what they hate, but what do they love? And what about their family?

Imagine the following scene: A man has his three year old son on his lap and is reading him a story. Another man enters the room. He quietly approaches and whispers something into the father's ear. The father nods once, then returns to the story. The other man walks out of the room with his cellphone in his hand. The boy drifts off to sleep and his father carries him to his room. As the father tenderly tucks his son into bed, making the sign of the cross on the boy's forehead and kissing him, a man is killed walking out of a restaurant several miles away, taken out by a mob hit.

Okay, a quick and dirty example, but I think the mobster dad would be more interesting to read about in a novel than some mafia boss you only see surrounded by goons and lackeys. What about you?

Do you have a fave author who writes really good villains? Who are some of your favorite villains?