Bringing Evil to Life
If you write suspense, somewhere along the storyline you’re probably going to introduce the bad guy, the evil creep bent on mayhem or bloodshed or carnage of some sort. But these bad dudes pose a challenge for many authors.
How bad is bad enough? Or too bad?
How do I bring my antagonist to life? Make him 3-dimensional?
What makes my villain so bad? Why is he so violence-craved?
What is my moral obligation as a Christian writer when creating an evil character?
First, we must realize and accept that evil is very real and a part of our culture. People do bad things, awful things, gross things, heinous acts of evil against our fellow man. That’s life in a sin-cursed world. It is what it is. Our challenge as Christian writers is not to glorify that but to write it as it is . . . to tell the truth. Not to hide it, or shy away from it, or sugar-coat it, but not to sensationalize it either.
Second, we must realize that even the baddest of the bad are humans, created in God’s image, loved by God, and no more deserving of His love than you or me. If we enter in to our project with that in mind we will create much more realistic characters every time.
Third, most people do what they do for a reason. They may not even be aware of the reason, but there is one. Of course, there are those psychopathic nutjobs who kill and maim and terrorize for the shear pleasure of it, with no provocation, no conscience, and no apparent reason, but even with them, something influenced them, something played a role in their development to shape their conscience into what it is. Our job in writing is to develop the character (yes, the evil one) so the reader gets the full picture, or at least a partial picture as to why Dr. Death is so bent on killing.
Fourth, deal with the issue of how far is too far up front. Decide within yourself how much you are comfortable including, what is out-of-bounds according to your own conscience, being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Of course, the CBA will only allow so much graphic violence in their books. And realistically, readers don’t need to see, hear, smell, and feel every slice of a knife, tear of flesh, crack of a bone, etc. Paint the picture so the reader gets the picture then leave the rest to the imagination. The reader’s imagination is much more powerful than our words anyway. Don’t ruin it by over-describing. It’s important, though, that you settle the issue personally and determine how far you’re willing to go and how open you’ll be to a publisher asking you to tone the violence down or amp it up.
Fifth, make your villain a real person with emotions and feelings and a conscience. Let him feel remorse, guilt, fear, excitement, joy, anger, and all the other emotions real people feel so the reader can connect with him.
Some parting words: Stay away from sensationalizing violence and evil. Not all bad guys are violent maniacal killers, some of the best villains are just creeps. Don’t insert violence just for the heck of it or for the shock value. Have a reason for it, a purpose. Be intentional about what you’re villains do. Read how others create bad guys. I think some of the best villains in contemporary fiction come from the mind of Dean Koontz. Read other successful authors and learn how they give evil life. And lastly, remember that as an author you are an influencer. Don’t take that lightly. Tread carefully and responsibly when dealing with evil, letting your own conscience, guided by God’s Spirit, lay the boundaries.
