Sorry this blog post is so late today, but Alan Rickman is dead and my mind is having a really hard time wrapping around that.

So in honor of the man who was known (rightly or wrongly) for his villainous portrayals, I thought we’d delve into the topic of villains, and how we write them. I’ve found a lot of good resources to give you some mental fodder as you’re writing, but Alan Rickman himself once gave a good piece of advice in an interview about the portrayal of villains:

“Be subversive.”

So with that in mind, here are a few resources to help you craft your next cunning, complex, complete sonuvabitch.

Basic Tips To Write Better & More Despicable Villains

6 Ways to Write Better Bad Guys

9 Evil Examples of the Villain Archetype

15 Interesting Motivations For Heroes And Villains

And finally, How Not To Create A Villain

Hope those give you some food for thought. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put in Sense and Sensibility and sob softly into a lacy handkerchief…