My Writing Guide

Part 2: Abstract Villains

WHAT ARE THEY?

Mental Illness

Track: Self

Mental Illness is an umbrella term for any number of diseases your main character may have to face. Depression, anxiety, personality disorders, post-traumatic stress – Mental Illness villains are tough for your MC to identify and defeat because they are, in essence, fighting against their own minds.

Doubt

Track: Self

Doubt is a Self villain that keeps your MC from interacting with others, opening up to the ones they love, taking part in social events, and going after their dreams. Your MC believes that they are unworthy of success and are constantly worried about what others say or think about them. And although they may recognize that their doubts are unfounded, they'll have trouble working up the confidence to overcome them.

Desire

Track: Self

Desire is a Self villain that manifest itself in forms like greed, vanity, and lust. Desire could even turn into an obsession with other characters. Whatever the case, your MC knows that their Desire is wrong and must spend their story fighting off and eventually overcoming this Desire.

Demons

Track: Self

Past mistakes may lead your MC to face a Demon of guilt, shame, or regret. This Self villain will loom over your MC, making them feel less than deserving of a happy life. Your MC must confront their mistakes in order to defeat their Demon, but the thought of it will paralyze them with fear.

Religion

Track: Corruption

Religion plays an integral role in nearly every culture, with many people believing their religion to be a core part of who they are. When a religion or its leaders are corrupted by greed, the entire culture will begin to crumble. False teachers or radical leaders may arise, convincing worshipers to hand over exorbitant amounts of money or commit unjustified deeds to make things right.

Justice

Track: Corruption

Judicial corruption takes place inside a society's law and order system. In the courtroom, juries are rigged, judges paid off, and witnesses bought to lie on the stand. In prisons, guards are paid to give prisoners undue privileges or look the other way while further crime is committed. When justice is corrupted, proper criminal prosecution and incarceration procedures will fail.

Education

Track: Corruption

Governments allot massive budgets for their education systems, making them particularly prone to corruption. Unqualified teachers are hired for lower rates, textbooks are sold to students or aren't used at all, and undue fees are charged, all in order to make more money. And as for the education itself, brainwashing and false teachings are used to mold the minds of students.

Politics

Track: Corruption

Political corruption is widespread in many governments. Bribes are made for endorsements, powerful positions given to unqualified relatives, money passed under the table in return for criminal favors, and scandals covered up by paying off the media. Your MC will need a lot of support to take down Political corruption because it may result in protests, rebellion, or war.

MY #1 TIP FOR WRITING POWERFUL ABSTRACT VILLAINS – EMBODY THEM IN A HUMAN FIGURE

But wait, these are supposed to be abstract villains not human ones, right? Well...yes and no.

Think about The Hunger Games. Katniss's enemy is Political Corruption in the form of the Capitol, but that Political Corruption is embodied in the character of President Snow. And as for Self villains, Dr. Frankenstein's Mental Illness is personified in the creation of his Monster.

By embodying your abstract villain in a human figure, you are giving your MC a physical villain to defeat. This makes your story stronger by creating a clear pathway to success for your MC. Just remember, it is your abstract villain that is the true antagonist of the story, not the human embodiment. Killing President Snow wouldn't have made a difference in Katniss's life if the Capitol had lived on.

4 TIPS FOR SUCCESSFULLY EMBODYING YOUR ABSTRACT VILLAIN

Concentrate on one motivation. What is your Abstract Villain's biggest motivation? Take that motivation and make it your embodiment's most notable personality trait. That will create a direct tie between the abstract villain and their embodiment.

Give the embodiment some backup. If your embodiment is trying to defeat your MC alone, then your true villain probably isn't Abstract. Give your embodiment some backup characters to act as secondary support. This will show that the embodiment isn't the villain itself, but simply a figurehead for it.

Make something terrible happen that isn't the direct result of the embodiment. Your embodiment shouldn't be the force behind every terrible thing that the MC faces. That's your Abstract Villain's job. Make something awful happen that isn't your embodiment's fault to show that a bigger villain lies in wait.

Make a clear connection between the Abstract's defeat and your MC's success. The embodiment's defeat shouldn't be the end of the line. Always remember that your MC will get their happy ending when, and only when, the Abstract Villain is brought down. You can make this clear to your readers by having the Abstract villain and their embodiment meet separate defeats.