An Interview with a Villain

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Sometimes, when creating or developing characters, it’s both helpful and fun to “ask” them questions in an interview style and use the answers to further develop their personality and actions. You can get a good feel for a character in this way, not to mention have a set of answers that will be helpful to reference while writing their story.

So I had the bright idea (no pun intended) to “interview” my favorite villain, Uriale. Since he spent the last three books as the villain, his details were not as well fleshed out as my protagonists, Ranove, Balfor, and Gorzo. I figured a questionnaire was a great way to cement those details in preparation for turning the outline for his story into a fully fleshed novel. After all, Uriale is perhaps one of the most complex characters I’ve ever had to deal with, since he’s going to need to change from being truly reprehensible to being redeemable. I have no illusions about how difficult this will be. I’ve cut some of his content out of the three previous books, but I keep it around to remind me how truly ruthless and arrogant he is.

However, my “interview” didn’t go quite as planned. My characters tend to take on a life of their own, and Uriale was no different in this regard. He was also stubborn, and annoyed at the process, and let me know this in no uncertain terms. I had a difficult time getting information out of him, and in the end, didn’t come even close to completing the questionnaire, but I figured I’d share how far I managed to get.