13.12: Q&A on Heroes, Villains, and Main Characters - a podcast by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler

Your Cast: Brandon, Valynne, Dan, Howard You had questions about heroes, villains, and main characters. We have answers! Here are the questions: How do you make planned power increases not seem like an ass-pull¹? What do you do when your villain is more interesting/engaging than your hero? How do you know when a character is unnecessary and needs to be removed from the story, or killed off in the story? What tricks do you use when you want the reader to mistakenly believe a character is a hero, rather than a villain? Which is more fun for you: creating a villain, or creating a hero? How many side characters can you reasonably juggle in a novel? What are the drawbacks to making your villain a POV character? If your villain doesn't show up until late in the story, how do you make their eventual appearance seem justified? How do you get readers to like a character who is a jerk? Liner Footnotes ¹ We hadn't seen "ass-pull," the a nouning² of the idiom "pull it out of your ass³" as a noun before. ² Bill Watterson gave us the verb form of the word "noun" indirectly in the final panel of this strip. ³ For those unfamiliar with the extraction-from-orifice idiom, it means "make it up on the spot," with a negative connotation, suggesting that the reader can TELL that this was invented in a hurry.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Factor 75 and use our code wx50 for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com/


Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Further episodes of Writing Excuses

Further podcasts by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler

Website of Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler