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No More Mr. Bad Guy
June 22, 2010 Authors always treat evil as an incomprehensible, barely-human force waiting to be defeated—but that’s pure fiction. It’s high time we saw villains as people too.
Illustration by Michael Cho
Like any fiction writer, I work hard to get my characters right. Often this means trying to see things from their perspectives. Are they motivated by guilt, or a lie they half-believe? What I discover isn’t always pleasant. It’s worth doing, however, because it deprives me of straw targets. As a result, I never write about villains, because villains aren’t people.
True, no character in fiction is an actual person. Better explanation: villains are characters that don’t act like real people. They’re plot props. They live in fables, westerns and teen …
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ISSUE 42 Winter 2011
online content:
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Our Tar-Sands Man in Washington
Gary Doer was hailed as one of Canada's greenest leaders. Then he became ambassador to the US—and started shilling for Alberta oil. [full text] -
Against the Memory Industry
Is the cult of remembrance holding us back? In an era of Google archives and tragedy tourism, we need to relearn how to forget. [full text] -
Someone Has to Save Us From This
The first-place story from the 2011 Quebec Writing Competition. [full text] -
Kingers
One of two second-place stories from the 2011 Quebec Writing Competition. [full text] -
A Photo Examination
One of two second-place stories from the 2011 Quebec Writing Competition. [full text]
also in this issue:
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Getting Plowed
In this exclusive investigative report from Montreal, Maisonneuve exposes the bid-rigging, violence and sabotage at the heart of an unlikely racket: snow removal. -
In the House of the Lord
The Jackson Avenue Housing Co-operative and the religious battle raging in one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods. -
After Jack
Last May, Jack Layton led the NDP to the greatest victory in party history. Now that he's gone, will the party be able to maintain its momentum? - [see full issue contents]