13 Steps to Evil: How to Craft Superbad Villains

by Sacha Black

Your hero is not the most important character in your book. Your villain is.

Are you fed up of drowning in two-dimensional villains? Frustrated with creating clichés? And failing to get your reader to root for your villain?

In 13 Steps to Evil, you’ll discover:

• How to develop a villain’s mindset
• A step-by-step guide to creating your villain from the ground up
• Why getting to the core of a villain’s personality is essential to make them credible
• What pitfalls and clichés to avoid as well as the tropes your story needs

Finally, there is a comprehensive writing guide to help you create superbad villains. Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned writer, this book will help power up your bad guy and give them that extra edge.

These lessons will help you master and control your villainous minions, navigate and gain the perfect balance of good and evil, as well as strengthening your villain to give your story the tension and punch it needs.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Crafts, How To

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 9, 2017

About the author

If you'd like a FREE villains mini course to help you master superbad villains go here:

https://sachablack.co.uk/newsletter

Sacha Black is an author, rebel podcaster, and professional speaker.

She has five obsessions; words, expensive shoes, conspiracy theories, self-improvement, and breaking the rules.

Sacha writes books about people with magical powers and other books about the art of writing.

When she’s not writing, she can be found laughing inappropriately loud, sniffing musty old books, fangirling film and TV soundtracks, or thinking up new ways to break the rules.

She lives in Cambridgeshire, England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son.

Reviews

[Icy Sedgwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are certain writing craft books that everyone gravitates towards, often with good reason. And while many of them are excellent, they often focus on more general subjects. I've read many books about creating characters, but there's often being something missing. Sacha Black has filled in one of the most glaring gaps by focusing entirely on villains. And let's be honest, your story is only as good as your villain (you just need to look at Dolores Umbridge to know what I'm saying). She's covered a huge range of types of villain so you can be confident that you're not creating a one-dimensional, cookie cutter bad guy, but a fully rounded, complex character whose story arc is just as valid as that of the hero. I for one will be using the book to death as I work on my current novel. I don't mind admitting that it wasn't until I read this book that I realised how 'flat' my current antagonist is. Well, thanks to Sacha Black, he doesn't need to stay that way! I genuinely cannot recommend this book enough.

[Shelley Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve followed Sacha Black’s blog for quite some time and thoroughly enjoy reading her posts on every aspect of the writing profession. When I heard that she had produced the first book in her writers’ craft series I was excited to learn more.

13 Steps to Evil is a unique look at crafting the villain within your story. Novice writers may be thrown off course by the revelation that the bad guy is just as important as the hero, but Sacha explains why this is so in full detail. As with her online work, the author’s voice shines through, and I loved this about the book. Yes, there is a touch of bad language, but there is also that quirky and refreshing style that keeps you reading, and learning.

The book is packed with references from literature, film, and television to help you grasp the ideas that Sacha is analysing. For me, this is an ideal learning tool as I can immediately ‘see’ how to integrate the lesson into my writing. At one point in the book, I was tempted to recall all my published works and begin a re-write!

There is a useful appendix of fictional and movie villains that you can follow up and research at your leisure. Sacha has also included a handy further reading source list and tables of positive and negative traits.

From deciding on the perfect trait for your villain right through to the conflict and climax, Sacha has you covered. I believe that 13 Steps to Evil is the ideal companion for every novice writer.

I received a copy of 13 Steps to Evil from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Elise Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, hands up, I usually find writing craft books pretty dull and boring. Yes, I read them anyway because I need to learn, but do I enjoy them? Not really.

But this book was different. 13 Steps to Evil homes in on one particular skill: how to write a really good (bad) villain, and it’s written in a friendly, conversational style that makes it entertaining as well as educational.

Really enjoyed it, and I've definitely learned a lot from reading!

[Roughseasinthemed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black has written an interesting book about not just supervillains, but also their foes in novels: heroes, and anti-heroes.

It's thoughtful, theoretical, and in places quite heavy going, but what lightens it up is Black's easy-going, informal, and direct style. It may not suit all tastes, but I find it refreshing, and it certainly makes yet another 'How to do this' book a different read.

If anything I found it hard to get into, with an excessive use of over-the-top adjectives – yes, part of the style, but it palled after a while – and the layout was very busy with lots of bold. Some of the time, I was unsure whether it was a heading, a reminder or a concluding highlight about the points made. Some of it seemed repetitive. I felt like a schoolchild being told thirty times that seven eights are fifty six.

But, onto the good points. I've already mentioned the writing style, which overall I like. It's fluid, and intimate, so it involves the reader. There are neat summaries at the end of every chapter (more repetition!) which are concise and a helpful reminder if you are using this as a reference book, which is clearly the idea.

My favourite chapter was the serious one about mental health disorders. Well, apart from the fact that I diagnosed myself with virtually all the ones listed, although I'm not an obsessive hand washer. It was, lucid, thoughtful, and excellent. It left me wondering if Black had written the rest of the book the same way, how would it have read?

Other good chapters – to me – were the ones about archetypal villains, anti-heroes, and clichés (and tropes). Really interesting.

Throughout the book, she uses examples from popular films and books to show villain types or their traits. Meant little to me apart from Hannibal Lecter as I haven't seen Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and various other recent major films (sheltered life), but it was a nice touch because Black explained how and why the villains acted as they did.

There are some good lists too in appendices about villain traits, soul scars, and more examples of villains and anti-heroes, including one of my favourite villains, Alan Rickman in both Robin Hood and Die Hard.

And on favourite villains, I have to mention MT McGuire's Lord Vernon from The K'Barthan Series. He is fantastic. Super villain par excellence. I used him as my model villain for comparison while reading.

To return to this book. Started off three stars but halfway through it improved, so gets four. There were some minor errors in my copy but it was an ARC, and I was warned. There is a tremendous amount of information in there, and Black must have put in a shedload of work to produce this. It's good value for money, and a recommended read, whether you want to write about villains or not!

Thanks to the author for my advance copy.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading Sasha's emails for a while and I love her writing tips. I've always struggled with how to write villains so I jumped on the opportunity to read a review copy of 13 Steps to Supervillians. Sasha's quirky and amusing voice came through in this how-to book just as well as it does in her emails. It was packed full of actionable tips and good explanations for why your villains need depth. This book informed and entertained.

[BJ Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a mixed bag.

On the one hand, there are plenty of very helpful thoughts and ideas on writing the villain of a story. She pretty much has everything covered and each of her "steps" is a chapter covering another aspect of what it takes to have a well crafted, believable villain. She uses plenty of examples from contemporary literature and movies and they nearly always are an excellent choice for illustrating the point she is making. After a while, however, it becomes obvious that she is pulling from a very narrow field of fiction. Either Sacha Black is not nearly as well read as she would have us believe or she has low expectations for the literary IQ of her readers. This latter choice would be ironic considering she at one point she tells us to assume our readers are all descendants of Einstein. At this point, I was so annoyed with her trite word pictures and sad attempts at humor that my thought was, "No, they are just all a lot smarter than you." And that is my "other hand".



This is how I picture Sacha Black as I am doing my best to read through her book without popping Advil to cover my growing headache. What Fran Drescher's voice is to the ears, Black's writing style is to the mind. Just. Please. Shut. Up.

So... if you are able to get your hands this book for free or at a drastically reduced price, I would strongly recommend skipping right to the conclusion and Questions for thought. Trust me on this, you won't be missing anything, but the summaries are excellent and worth having handy when you are writing your own fiction. If, however, you are considering paying full price for this book, don't. Just... don't.

[D. Peach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sacha Black makes a great point in the opening of this book - that a villain is at least as important as the hero and rarely gets an equivalent amount of attention as a book is crafted. And we all love a great villain, whether we know it or not, because a great villain makes our hero miserable, which promises a satisfying payoff when the hero prevails!

Black is thorough, elaborating on 13 different factors related specifically to villain development, though many of the points, including those covering motivation, conflict, and authenticity, apply to all characters. Villain-specific chapters address such things as female villains, cliches, the villain psyche, and anti-heroes. There is a thoughtful chapter on mental health challenges in relation to building a villain's profile.

In general, Black's presentation is a hoot, witty and conversational, and a joy to read. The book is well-organized with summaries at the end of each chapter and references and appendices in the back. Once read, the book can easily serve as an ongoing resource. 13 Steps to Evil is a must-read for new writers and has some good reminders/tips for seasoned writers as well.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

*This review was originally published on RachelPoli.com

FIRST THOUGHTS

I’ve followed Sacha Black on her blog for a long time now. I’ve watched her create this book and I feel like I’ve learned a lot just by reading her posts. Now she’s put all her research, time, and effort, into an ebook.

PLOT

(There’s no plot, but I don’t have another picture, so I’m going with it.)

In this craft book, the author discusses a range of “bad guys” from the villains to the antagonists (yes, they are different) to anti-heroes. Just like the summary suggests, everything you would want to know about creating villains is in this book.

This includes basic definitions of villains and villainy as well as motivation, character traits, and getting into the mind of the villain and the psychology behind it all.

WRITING STYLE

This book is broken up into 13 steps, plus an introduction. Each step seemed to go on in the blink of an eye because I just kept reading and reading.

When I say that, I mean it was highly entertaining. I often found myself thinking I was reading a textbook, but it wasn’t the typical textbook you’d get from college. The author’s way of words was informative but entertaining. It was fun to read about the villains and why they do what they do.

It was educational and I found myself wondering if I should be taking notes, but at the end of each step, there was a quick summary of that section plus questions to think about when you create your villain. It made it so that I could sit back and absorb the information knowing that I can go back for reference and not be flipping through the pages trying to find something particular.

OVERALL

This is a wonderful writing craft book that you don’t want to miss. It’s packed with helpful information on villains and it’s entertaining enough that you’ll learn without realizing it. There is also a workbook that goes along with it that I have yet to get, but will definitely be buying soon.

Favorite Quote:

“What separates a villain from a hero are the decisions and choices he makes.” –Sacha Black, 13 Steps To Evil: How To Craft Superbad Villains

[M.J. Moores · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say, this book is deviously fun!

I’m a lifelong learner and while there are a few things I feel I know extremely well (this isn’t one of them), I am always open to a new interpretation/perspective/battle plan. Sometimes, all we need as writers is a different way of looking at something that could spark understanding or give our creative muse a kick in the a**!

Sacha Black believes in our villains, and as an author/long-time reader she found a need to help build stronger more dynamic bad guys. She has dedicated her heart, soul, sweat, and sanity to this 13-step writer’s guide—for all levels. Black doesn’t talk down to you, in fact, she might just get a little saucy with you 😉

I love the way this guide reads like a “how to” course with straightforward steps, succinct summaries at the end of every chapter (in bullet points no less!), tangible/relatable examples and a list of questions to ask either yourself or your villain.

The thought-provoking questions Black asks are my favourite aspect. Whether I jot down the answers to these questions about my villain, or just mull over a chapter for a few hours or a day, I find myself digging deeper and analyzing not only my choices but my villain’s choices too—which is exactly the point of this book.

The concept that has triggered the best “mulling” and “discovery” sessions for me is the idea of Soul Scars. Black’s ability to push the right buttons in my brain regarding this concept and how it needs to have a radiating impact on all major characters, really gets my creativity flowing and kicks my brain into high-gear.

13 Steps to Evil is the kind of book that a writer could easily return to again and again for inspiration. Yes, if you’ve been writing for any significant length of time you’ve likely heard a version of what this book covers in another manual, a course, a workshop, at a conference (or a mish-mash of all the above). The point is, it’s a reference guide as much as it is a teaching guide. As writers, we tend to lean toward our strengths and those aspects of writing that easily inspire us. 13 Steps will remind a well-versed writer about what you already know, deep down inside, and will motivate you to try something new or look a it from a different angle, and that’s powerful.

Without a doubt, I would recommend this book to any writer I know or meet, and I’ve bought 4 copies to prove it 😉

[Lipsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://lipsyy.wordpress.com

I've been following Sacha's blog for a while now and love the energy, humour and passion that she puts into helping writers hone their craft. In 13 Steps to Evil, Sacha has put together everything she has learnt about writing and focused on how to create superbad villains - something she believes is often overlooked.

I thought this book was brilliant. Even if like me, you're not currently writing anything and therefore not using it directly as a writing tool, it's still a great read and one that you can apply to any kind of writing. It's full of tips, examples, and in-depth exploration of writing bad guys (and girls).

"It will teach you to craft villains so brilliantly twisted they'll make your readers throw themselves like sacrificial lambs between the pages of your book."

I was especially impressed by the way the book structured with each chapter acting as a different step, exploring a different facet of writing a convincing and complex villain, and each point is backed up with an example from a well-known book or movie. I thought this was a great idea - it made it really easy to picture exactly what Sacha was explaining, and each example was totally spot on.

The end of each chapter also has a bullet-pointed summary and finishes with questions to ask yourself as you work through your own manuscript. But the best part of this book, is definitely Sacha's wit and wisdom. Her personality (and potty mouth - which I love, obviously) really shines through, making it an enjoyable read and not something to trawl through like a lot of writing books.

"Motives are story mechanics, pillars of structural necessity. Without them, you're fuckled, sideways...With a giant piranha covered pogo stick."

It's also clear that Sacha did a lot of research for this book, and I felt like I was in good hands the whole way through! If you're struggling to create an evil character, or even if you're just interested in the writing process, I think this book will help and entertain.

[Jaye Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many ‘how to’ books before, but none of them talks quite like Sacha Black. She tells it straight from the hip in an inimitable and refreshing style of direction.
This book is an in-depth and thorough expose of all things villain. Far more complex than you would first imagine.
Cause and effect are explained in easily understood writers speak, along with some amazing examples, just in case you have your dim head on!
Most crime/thriller writers love to create a good/bad villain and probably spend more time on them than the good guys. We should definitely make our villains bad, but giving them one ‘nice’ trait is an interesting idea.
The first thing that surprised me was that the hero is not the most important character in your novel. And that we tend to create a villain and then just let him/her get on with it.
If this book does nothing else, it will encourage, nay, demand that you create some awe-inspiring villains, and some of them will be female. The world seems to think that women don’t make good, bad people, so it could well be time to change all that.
Anti-heroes are something I haven’t given much thought to, but this book explores many such interesting concepts. Anti-heroes can get away with anything, so long as they finish on the side of the angels.
My favourite chapter was all about fear. That the idea of fear is all you need and far more important than all the stark reality of any awful world you create. Fear is such an emotional part of your imagination because you can only guess how bad it really is.
Another good question; should we really kill a villain?
Summary
I am going to have to recheck all my villains after reading this book. Have I actually created believably bad men, or are they just a tad second rate?
I received an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[M.J. Mallon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent - my only regret I hadn't read this earlier. Fantastic resource, well written, entertaining and so human. This girl knows her villains!

Confession time. No, it’s nothing to do with my prison record, or my descent into villainy. It’s simply this – I’m pretty lazy about reading books about writing – but Sacha Black’s 13 Steps To Evil has completely changed my mind! What a fantastic kick ass little book! I wish I’d read a copy years ago.

It’s a detailed resource, which informs and entertains in an illuminating, and humorous way. There are so many excellent examples that I am giddy with the potential for villains. The mental health section is handled with great sensitivity (one of my characters self-harms, so I read this with considerable interest,) and I was also fascinated by the detail on narcissistic personality disorder too.

Sacha’s extensive knowledge of villains prompts me to ask….. Is Sacha a secret villain? Or has she been hanging out with dodgy characters? The mind boggles. No, none of these apply… at least I don’t think so! Sacha Black has done her research, and it shows. She studied Psychology to 1st Class Degree level and thereafter completed Masters in Research Methods in Cognitive Neuropsychology. She has also spent an exorbitant amount of time watching villainous films, (from a tender age,) and has read tonnes of books, and absorbed popular culture like a sponge. Where does this woman get her energy? I am in awe, totally star-stuck… or should I say villain struck!

My recommendation: 5 stars. Get a copy now and write a review. Share the love!

[Ritu Bhathal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never, as a fledgeling writer, did I think I would ever want/need to read 'how to' books regarding writing, much less a book about crafting Villains!
To be honest, in my writing, I have never really thought about the need for a villain, though after reading this book, I realise that they are EVERYWHERE!
Whether in a children's book, or Science fiction, in Chick Lit or Fantasy, there will be a villain lurking, and now I know how to
a) spot one, and
b) create one!
Sacha Black has, in a mere 13 steps, shown us would-be (and experienced!) writers exactly what our thought process should be regarding those negative characters that are omnipresent in Literature.
Using her immense knowledge of popular characters form both Fiction, TV and Film, she has created a guide that gives you many 'A-ha!', 'Of course!' and 'Why didn't I think of that?' moments!
A great and simple book to read with so much information, presented in a humorous way.
Definitely one to recommend to all those writers out there!

[Francis Behrend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. Not only is Sacha Black an amazing and funny author, her focus on developing a villain is spot-on. It is an approach that is quite often neglected by new and experienced authors and I think it's a great addition to my writing advice bookshelf.
What I enjoyed the most was the summary at the end of each chapter, so that if you want to re-visit a topic, you can first look in the mini version and then decide of you need to refresh your memory by reading the whole chapter again or if you're good and can move on. So if you don't have the time to read the book in one go, you can always come back and be dragged into quickly - not that you need to, because this book is so easy to read. The structure and the language offer a accessibility that's quite rare in non-fiction books. I'm looking forward to my re-read soon. Enjoy!

[Melanie Roussel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

13 Steps To Evil - How To Craft Superbad Villains, the author demystifies villainry and lays it out for us in thirteen well thought out chapters. There were a few major sections that really stood out for me. The commentary on why there are so few female villains was really thoughtful. If you’re looking for help crafting a female villain, I’d say this section is your must-read. Also, the chapter which looks at the mental health of villains.

At the end of each chapter, there's a handy summary of all the different facets you need to be thinking about. I imagine that these will be massively useful references when you go back to fine tune your villain in the future. As are the lists at the back of the book of characters, soul scars, traits and values.

Sacha writes in such an engaging style that it made the book impossible to put down. The humour she writes with made this so much more than just your standard villain creator textbook. It’s well written, informative and hilarious.

[A.S. Akkalon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have probably read over a hundred books on writing craft as well as hundreds of blog posts, so I was dubious about whether I would find anything new in “13 Steps to Evil”.

The book does cover a lot of what will be familiar material if you’re well read in this area, but it takes the unusual approach of presenting the ideas through the lens of writing better villains, meaning many ideas are combined and emphasised in novel ways. As a result, I think most readers are likely to get some valuable take-aways.

Having said that, the book is likely to be most useful for novice writers. As well as some more advanced material, it covers many important points that are often overlooked by novice writers, eg villains need to be hard to beat.

Because the whole book focuses on villains, reading it will make you think harder about how (and if) you characterise your villain (assuming you have one). What Sacha says is true—many writers put effort into developing their protagonists at the expense of developing their villains.

I found the chapter on the mental health of villains most interesting. Villains are frequently written with various mental health disorders, and if this is something you’re considering then this chapter provides some excellent information on things to watch out for: cliches, common inaccurate representations of mental health disorders, and potentially stigmatising representations. Because of the length of the chapter, the information on the disorders themselves is not comprehensive, but the chapter a very good starting point and references for further reading are provided.

The tone of the book is irreverent and entertaining, and the reader should be prepared for some bad language.

[Angela Lawlor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Create a villain your readers will love to hate

Like your writing advice with a bit of sass and attitude? Sacha Black has a great book you need to read ASAP. "13 Steps to Evil: How to Craft Super bad Villains." Super enjoyable and filled with great tips to add some extra punch to your stories and novels. 5 stars!

[S.C. Skillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book an excellent resource for writers, especially those at the stage I was in at the time of reading - nearing the end of the first draft of my WIP. Sacha Black equips the writer with plenty of tools to sharpen up and deepen their understanding of villainy. She writes with the knowledge and insight of one who is trained and qualified in Psychology. At times I found her handling of the subject almost too dense and over-analytical - especially in areas such as complexes, which I have myself written blog posts on, based on the writings of Carl Jung. But then I realised that I could only benefit from Sacha Black's close attention to this subject; what she says repays careful study, because it is so important for a fiction author to understand exactly what constitutes villainy. She is particularly good on the subject of mental health in fictional villains; as she rightly points out, it is no good giving one's villain a mental health issue and then ascribing their villainy to that issue. She helps the reader focus on how complex the human psyche is and reminds us once again that as writers we must be faithful students of human nature. In addition, her own personal style is very lively, which makes the book more accessible, too, to a popular audience. Highly recommended.

[Susan Laspe · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are very helpful writing tips! Thank you!

[Lucy Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book! It gets you feeling excited about writing. After reading a couple of chapters you find yourself getting strong urges to create some villains. Love the author's witty and engaging tone. She tells you how it is and puts in such a way you can't help but smile. It's very readable and the exercises are fun. I am hoping she will bring out a workbook as that would be ideal. A must read for aspiring writers!

[Michael Mardel · Rating 4 out of 5]

13 steps to evil - textbook and workbook by Black. I hadn't used villains in my stories but will now. Tip 1 - have at least one negative trait (I bought the thesaurus from Ackerman and Pulisi). Black gives a list of negatives such as jealous and reckless.
Tip 2 - give the villain one positive trait like adaptable.
To drive conflict, show the hero with opposing traits to the villain. Also, time pressure.
There are different types of villains e.g. anti-heroes like Robin Hood and Batman.
I skipped through the workbook but it is difficult with Kindle to backtrack. The list of negative values, soul scars, positive values and neutral traits were all impossible to read. However, I had been given another copy and had more luck. Very comprehensive.

[Colleen Chesebro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review which follows.

As a fantasy writer, I love writing about the hero’s journey. However, as Author, Sacha Black points out, your villain is just as important as your hero. Of particular interest to me was the concept of creating a villain who could stand up to your hero by making the villain credible and believable. This is where the 13 fundamentals of a bad guy come into play. Each concept is discussed in practical terms filled with examples from other books and films that make the concepts easy to relate to.

The author writes in such a way as to coach you on your writing journey by liberally sprinkling her own sense of humor throughout the pages making the discussion fun and never boring. Some of the topics covered were how to avoid cliches, the psychology behind the villain and what motivates them, along with an excellent discussion of anti-heroes.

One of the most important things I gleaned from this book was to not allow my hero to have an easy go of it. The more obstacles I could throw at my hero the better my story would progress. Sacha Black puts it this way:

“No motive, no conflict. No conflict, no story.”

Another section of the novel was dedicated to establishing the mental health of your villain which was created to serve as a reference section for the writer. Here, the author’s advice is clear. When mental health disorders are used as character traits, don’t base them off of myth or stereotypes. Research the mental health disorder and authentically portray your character.

At the end of the book are listings of positive, negative, and neutral traits, along with the lists of positive, negative, and neutral values that can be used in character formation. I found the listing of soul scars to be helpful when trying to figure out what motivates my characters to act or react in a certain way.

I loved this book and will use it as a reference in the future creation of my characters. No matter where you are in your writing journey, you will take away something useful the next time you find yourself crafting your perfect hero, anti-hero or villain.

Author, Sacha Black has created a free short course on villains which is included as a link in the acknowledgments, called Villain School 101. I will read and review that book/class at a later date, so please stay tuned.

MY RATING:
Character Believability: 5
Flow and Pace: 5
Reader Engagement: 5
Reader Enrichment: 5
Reader Enjoyment: 5
Overall Rate: 5 out of 5 STARS

[Debbie Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have followed Sacha Black's blog for some time now and knew of the imminent release of this book. It was an enjoyable and easy book to read. If I was a writer I would love this sort of book to help me in writing about my villains. She used a variety of language and contemporary stories to describe her main ideas which I found it easy to relate to. It was set out well and flowed smoothly. Her ideas and suggestions were spot on. A great resource for writers out there. Even though I'm not a writer of books, (I'm a blogger), it was still a great book to read and take in the amount of knowledge she has shared with her readers. Great read and thoroughly recommended.

[Brin · Rating 5 out of 5]

13 Steps to Evil is a non-fiction about creating fiction; specifically, villains in all their forms. It touches on the various ways you can portray villainy, the purpose of a villain and the effect your villain should have on your hero. This isn’t all moustache twisting deep cackling villainy, and sometimes the villain of a story might not even be a tangible thing, but the rules Sacha lays out apply none the less with examples of all of them and are reiterated enough to stick in your memory (but not enough to annoy, I promise!). Some of the examples are spoilers, which she does warn you about at the beginning of the book but I’ll warn you all here too, just in case.

The main principle I took away is this; your villain should first and foremost be the cause of your hero’s motive. Be it saving the girl or saving the world, every story needs a villain and if you’re stumped with yours, this book might be a godsend to you. I know it was for me – I have a story in my head, but I’ve been doing appallingly at figuring out what’s going to fuel my protagonists and Sacha is absolutely right. They need someone to do a little proactive antagonising.
If I had to criticise anything, I’d say I found the formatting a bit dramatic, for lack of better word. There were a few things written in BIG LETTERS to highlight the point. But honestly, I don’t care enough about formatting to say it took away from my enjoying the read. It’s the content that matters and I found the content very helpful indeed. My other (totally sincere you guys I swear) criticism is that I didn’t notice the shadowy face on the cover of the book until I was taking this photo and it SCARED THE ABSOLUTE LIFE OUT OF ME. THANKS SACHA.

Now, I’d best be off to write me a badboy!

[Willow Willers · Rating 5 out of 5]

“13 Steps to Evil” by Sacha Black is the best “How to” book I have ever read! It is not only brilliantly informative but also entertaining as well. It really has had me intrigued and entertained . Personally I have learnt a great deal about how to craft a super evil villain!
If you are new to writing or even if you are an old master, I am certain there is something for everyone to learn from in this book.
Sacha has made sure that the book is concise, easy to read and understand and has added lots of extras for us all to benefit from
for example, appendices, references and checklists. A must have for every writers Library.

[Tango Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't Write Without It

13 Steps To Evil: How to Craft Superbad Villains
I consider this book to be absolutely essential for new writers who have unhealthy relationships with their heroes, making their books wish-fulfillment fantasies of power where the protagonist is never really challenged and their villains are 2-dimensional caricatures without any real motivations or compelling forethought. This and the workbook are everything you need to making your novel stand out in every way. Every writer who has a villain in their stories owes it to themselves to own this book. If you know any would-be writers, this would be the best gift you could give them.

[Pat Stanford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent tool

This is a keeper for any fiction writer's tool box. I won't repeat what has already been said, but I will explain why I gave it four stars instead of five.

I didn't think chapter summaries were needed after thoroughly explaining a topic. For some reason, the author felt it necessary to list what she just covered and I was a little insulted.

The humor displayed throughout smoothed most of that over and I'll return to this again.

[Katlyn Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a writer, I always love writing complex villains, so I knew 13 Steps was right up my alley. I enjoyed the witty voice of the author and the helpful and comprehensive information inside of the book. I liked how this book honed in on a specific character of most fiction novels so that they leap off the page. I prefer this style versus the broad range of information that some writing books contain. If you are looking to step up your writing, be sure to take a read through 13 Steps to Evil.

[Melissa Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Your average writing help book

Thirteen Steps to Evil is an ideal guide for new writers for taking two dimensional characters to three dimensional. Each step covers various aspects for building the perfect villain. The lessons that are covered, range from learning how to develop a villain’s mindset, to pitfalls and cliches to avoid. Throughout this, examples are used to assist in developing the ideas.

I gave this book three stars because I wasn’t crazy about it. While there were many good insights, I felt like a lot of what I read was intuitive tricks I had already developed from writing for a few years. Therefore, I didn’t feel like I was gaining as much as I usually do from writing help books. That’s not to say the book isn’t useful—it is useful. There are several things I would like to try for future villains. I suppose if I would have read this early on when I started writing, I would have found it more helpful and ranked it higher. For a beginning writer, it’s definitely a four start read.

Overall, I recommend it if you have the time. I’m glad I read it, and I got at least one thing from it, which is always my goal.

[Mylee J. Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 13 Steps To Evil by Sacha Black, readers explore the depth of villainy and what it takes to craft a perfect antagonist. Black gives tips on characterization, backstory, motive, goal - and so much more. The story holds all the tools for crafting perfect villains, from start to finish.

I read 13 Steps To Evil about halfway through when I was twelve years old, but never finished it. Now that I'm further into my writing career (and have learned the value of reading writing craft fiction) I wanted to return and finish the guide. All I remembered from my first and partial readthrough was that the line "You need to convince the reader the villain's right, even if it's just for a second." I remembered that line for years and it dragged me back to this book eight years after first reading it.

Black paints a vivid picture of villainous craft and how to write a villain that'll knock a reader's socks off. The tips were helpful and applicable, easy to use even halfway through the writing of a manuscript. I've already added what I didn't remember subconsciously to the outlines for my villains - and am excited to dive into her other craft novels.