A new twist on "Drop The Needle" -- send me your antagonists!
In short, choose one page of text (approximately 250 words -- please stick to this!) in which your antagonist's character is really painted out -- whether through action or dialogue is up to you. Give us a scene that really gives us a taste of your antagonist.
We will decide the following:
Is he/she believable?
Is he/she scary/hateful/dark/misunderstood/demonic/whatever-he's-meant-to-be?
Is there enough conflict to make us WANT the antagonist to ultimately fail, even without reading the entire story?
In short, how good are you at creating THE BAD GUY?
Send your submissions to facelesswords(at)gmail.com (Please note the change in email address from prior submissions.) prior to 9:00 am EDT on Thursday, June 12. Please include the GENRE of your story.
Sound fun? Spread the word!
mmmmmm unsure if any of my work is up to scratch at the moment....*thinks hard*. I'll see :)
ReplyDeleteYuna
This is a tough one. Great villains show their true colors over the course of several pages and intermittent scenes. That's what makes them so hate-able. The more you know them, the more you love to hate them. 8^)
ReplyDeleteAin't it grand to be s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d? :D
ReplyDeleteHmm, do you have any limits on content we should be aware of? O:)
ReplyDelete'Cause... well... I have a few (okay, fine, I have a LOT) of antags I could chose from. The problem is the scenes that might work for this involve violence... most of the time. %-)
So... you want it kept pg-13 or below? And should we include a content advisory in subs?
~Merc, who fully anticipates LIKING the antags despite everything B-)
Merc, you are one in a million.
ReplyDeleteUr, trillion.
:D
Give me a content advisory and I'll let you know (privately) if it's not going to be OK. The main stuff I'm trying to steer clear of is language and sex. Of course, something completely graphic, like bits of characters flying everywhere amidst a fine, perpetual spray of blood, probably won't work.
So just send it on, and we'll take it from there. K?
Haha! Okay, thanks. ;) I don't think this is too bad... will send it and see what you think.
ReplyDelete~Merc
I sent you my page, Authoress. O:)
ReplyDeleteYou are a perfect mix of warped and talented, Merc.
ReplyDelete*is flattered* Why, thank you. %-)
ReplyDeleteSo I take it I can get away with the excerpt... O:)
Merc- I promise you won't like the one I submitted.
ReplyDeleteI had to look hard to find a page of evilness, usually my bad guys are background figures, shadowy characters, or seem like good guys until they stab you in the back. But I recalled this scene (from a book desperatley waiting for edits) and thought it might just work....
We'll see. %-) Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteLet me rephrase.... if you like this villian I'm calling the cops. And then I will stop talking to you, critting you.... And then I'll tell Inky.
ReplyDeleteThe villian in this part is not likeable. They aren't evil, they're depraved. It's different.
Although I almost but something form Ghost in the contest. I just couldn't decide if Andia was the good one or the bad one.
Oh, I can't wait!
ReplyDeleteI so wish I had something to submit here, but in my current WIP, my villain's big scene has yet to be written.
And I love antagonists. Good ones, not stock "bad guys" but real villains.
Maybe it's a hold-over from my theater days- villains are always more fun to play than princesses.
Okay, tossed a couple your way from some WIPs. It's indeed hard to show their true colors as Karen pointed out in the 250 words, but hopefully you get an idea of their nature in these small bits.
ReplyDeleteOh Merc, I can't wait to see which one you put in. Something from WK?
Can't wait to see, Dawn!
ReplyDeleteThe excerpt is from Firereaper Twilight but I'm sure you'll recognize Winterblade as the same wacked out psycho. ;) Sadly he hasn't changed much...
Which reminds me, I should get back to WK. I've kinda missed... finishing FT has sparked my interest in the world/characters again.
Cate--oh, I totally agree that villains are faaaar more fun to play! I never did much theater but what little I did, I always loved being a bad guy. ;) (No one should be surprised, lol.)
~Merc
I didn't have a real villian in my WIP. So I took one of the characters and expanded on him. I'm sure no one will like it..
ReplyDelete