A Spoon Full of Sugar
Opposites work
so well together, we sometimes overlook the obvious. old sayings like there is
always a silver lining within a storm and a spoon full of sugar helps the
medicine go down (yes, a Marry Poppins shout-out), but there is always some
truth even in old wives tales.
Hey, how did they become old wives in the first
place (other than bumping off their husbands). The term old wives is much
better than saying old widows. However, this isn’t the same as the theory of
giving good news before bad had help thought focus on the positive verses
giving bad news first and reduce the impact of the good news. Although, this
theory has been proven and has its place in the real world, but when incorporating
this theory into your story can cause a bit of a problem. Adding that spoon
full of sugar can reduce the impact of your story’s trials and tribulations
that must be overcome, the importance of your character's growth from starting
out as ordinary to the person they need to be in order to overcome his
shortcomings or life changing challenge, and completely destroys how dark your
villain truly is.
Trials And Tribulations
At times the use of sarcasm can be considered a lessening of a particular dire situation in your story or as an aggravating habit of some characters when they use the tried and true emotional defensive mechanism to hide their true feelings. For example.
At times the use of sarcasm can be considered a lessening of a particular dire situation in your story or as an aggravating habit of some characters when they use the tried and true emotional defensive mechanism to hide their true feelings. For example.
“The building is
about to blow up. Jim, what are we going to do?” said Bob in a panic.
“Why ask me? I’m already having a bad day. My girlfriend left me for my ex-wife who had taken my dog in the divorce, and the woman I was cheating on both of them with had just called me to tell me that she’s pregnant. This building coming down on my head would be an improvement. At lease we don’t have to worry about the bomber. I shot him just as he pressed the red button to start the countdown.”
“Why ask me? I’m already having a bad day. My girlfriend left me for my ex-wife who had taken my dog in the divorce, and the woman I was cheating on both of them with had just called me to tell me that she’s pregnant. This building coming down on my head would be an improvement. At lease we don’t have to worry about the bomber. I shot him just as he pressed the red button to start the countdown.”
As you can see
comedy has always been a spoonful of sugar, but no one likes a character with a
sugar rush when everything is on the line. Well, that does depend if the person
is the villain or not. It’s easy to hate the character that goes against your
finding your way to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. However, true
villains give you a moment to consider that they aren’t as villainous as you
had thought. What if the villain who is stopping you from making it to the gold
that is in your sights by saying;
“You do know the
king’s tax collector is waiting for you and had waited for the perfect excuse
to throw you in the dungeon, hide most of your gold for himself, and force your
daughter to marrying him or you would be seeing the headman at the dawn because
he is ready to convince the king that a popper like you had to have hid many seasons
of tax that rightfully belonged to him.”
I guess that pot
of gold doesn’t look as tempting as it once had. However, in true villain form,
he lied, or was he starting to change because the man’s daughter and he were
unknown childhood friends. Oh, and he is the emperor’s son and wasn’t killing
people for fun, but the trailers to his father. Their king was next on his
list. This leads us to characters growth.
Characters Growth
Characters who go from hated to misunderstood to understood to accepted to hero isn’t as unusual as you might think. You can also say the same for characters who goes from common too shy to bullied to ostracize to secluded to vengeful to villain. At any given watershed (important) moment, some traumatic event or circumstance propels a character change. No one said that Character growth goes in two different directions, but when you think about how you present your backstory of your character to bring them to life, this is exactly what you are doing. I like to call this the sugar or vinegar moment. Something can happen to force a foolish or a shy character to step up and be more than they were. This can also change that same foolish or shy person to descend into darkness and begin the downward spiral of losing their humanity. Here’s an example;
Characters who go from hated to misunderstood to understood to accepted to hero isn’t as unusual as you might think. You can also say the same for characters who goes from common too shy to bullied to ostracize to secluded to vengeful to villain. At any given watershed (important) moment, some traumatic event or circumstance propels a character change. No one said that Character growth goes in two different directions, but when you think about how you present your backstory of your character to bring them to life, this is exactly what you are doing. I like to call this the sugar or vinegar moment. Something can happen to force a foolish or a shy character to step up and be more than they were. This can also change that same foolish or shy person to descend into darkness and begin the downward spiral of losing their humanity. Here’s an example;
“I’ve known Jim
since he was a little boy, and I knew he had greatness in him. He was always
polite and kept to himself. Unlike most boys who walked around boasting how
they were this and how they had done that, Jim was their opposite. Just to see
him rush into that burning house to save Vella while that no good boyfriend of
her feet was planted on the grown even proved to her parent that they shouldn’t
have told to date that coward and never spoke on how they had denied Jim when
he asked if he could date their daughter like a proper young man. They don’t
deserve a hero like Jim dates their daughter.”
Villa’s parents heard the man and nodded their heads in agreement.
Villa’s parents heard the man and nodded their heads in agreement.
Now isn’t that a
nice spoonful of sugar? Well, here comes the vinegar my friends.
They watched as
Jim carried Vella out of the burning house and as soon as she saw her
boyfriend, she jumped out of his arms and ran to him. She thanked him through
passionate kisses for telling her that he had sent Jim in to save her because
he didn’t want her to worry that he might get hurt and not be able to
quarterback their next game or lose his college scholarship that included her
to go to school with him. Vella’s parents shrugged their shoulders as the
smiled sheepishly and ignored Jim once again. And, a villain is born (who you
wouldn’t mind rooting for).
As you can see
in either case, what is most important is growth and how sugar is used to cause
the greatest change of them all. Oh, but what if you want to change a villain,
but still keep them a villain?
Villain’s Impact
How to Sugar-fied your villain 101? This is a simple matter of adding what is acceptable through impeccable manners, ridiculous wealth, or a cause that most will support, but not to the extent where total destruction, annihilation, and innocent lives lost is the only acceptable answer. People are more prone to accept a well-mannered villain, or in other words, a charming rogue (who the people will follow behind blindly). People are more prone to accept a wealthy villain, or in other words, a vigilante (who’s attorneys will get him out of everything). People are more prone to accept a righteous villain, or in other words, a monster! There are too many examples in real life to draw upon this one, so I’m not going to say more. My point is that the villains are no longer simply the person in the black hat (or white hat, depending on what country you are in), and all demons aren’t red (or blue, depending on what country you are in as well). The best villains are charismatic, alluring, and fascinating (sweet talkers). These villains live in opulence, splendor and lavish magnificence most can only dream about (and still fall far short of the mark). And, what makes them extremely acceptable for many to foolishly follow, worship, or surrender their lives is because they present a voice to the misinformed. It goes without saying that they will do all they can to keep it that way. It is, of course, the carrot they wave at the world with one hand and beat the crap of everyone with the stick they are hiding behind their back with the other. The sugar that villains uses fall under three categories that are overused, but never gets old. These three that are in every villains bag of tricks are greed, power over others, and love. I know greed and power are easy ones to recognize, but as they say, love trumps all. Here’s some examples.
How to Sugar-fied your villain 101? This is a simple matter of adding what is acceptable through impeccable manners, ridiculous wealth, or a cause that most will support, but not to the extent where total destruction, annihilation, and innocent lives lost is the only acceptable answer. People are more prone to accept a well-mannered villain, or in other words, a charming rogue (who the people will follow behind blindly). People are more prone to accept a wealthy villain, or in other words, a vigilante (who’s attorneys will get him out of everything). People are more prone to accept a righteous villain, or in other words, a monster! There are too many examples in real life to draw upon this one, so I’m not going to say more. My point is that the villains are no longer simply the person in the black hat (or white hat, depending on what country you are in), and all demons aren’t red (or blue, depending on what country you are in as well). The best villains are charismatic, alluring, and fascinating (sweet talkers). These villains live in opulence, splendor and lavish magnificence most can only dream about (and still fall far short of the mark). And, what makes them extremely acceptable for many to foolishly follow, worship, or surrender their lives is because they present a voice to the misinformed. It goes without saying that they will do all they can to keep it that way. It is, of course, the carrot they wave at the world with one hand and beat the crap of everyone with the stick they are hiding behind their back with the other. The sugar that villains uses fall under three categories that are overused, but never gets old. These three that are in every villains bag of tricks are greed, power over others, and love. I know greed and power are easy ones to recognize, but as they say, love trumps all. Here’s some examples.
“I’m
doing this for us.”
“This is the only way we can be together.”
“I have no other choice to keep you safe.”
“This is the only way we can be together.”
“I have no other choice to keep you safe.”
This can go on
and on, but it is all nothing but a way to control, constrict, and is a
constant contradiction to the truth. However, what you actually have when it is
all said and done is a well-rounded,
likeable, and dangerous villain. When you consider the next antagonist for your
hero, consider using a spoon full of sugar to help the beat down at the end of
your story be just that extra little bit of scandalous enjoyment. SD Tracy
Harper
Illustration; www. medicaldaily.com
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