the vampire diaries fanfic writing tips

✧ writing your oc as a villain

this is meant for ocs that are seen as being a villain and typically have a villain love interest too.

you need to be very careful when writing someone as a villain. while villains are sometimes some of the most loved characters you can also create a hated villain (if that's what you want then that's obviously fine). so here are some tips to help that

1. they need likeable qualities.

your oc should always have likeable qualities. you need to give your audience and other characters in the book a reason to like them.

for example, it's happened to me a few times where i have stopped reading a story because the oc was a full on villain who was probably worse than any character seen on the show. they would randomly kill betray and hurt people for no reason and even the mikaelsons would say that they were too harsh and didn't like their ways.

they had no likeable qualities. then i was supposed to believe that they had friends and a love interest? when everyone around them very clearly showed that they were a pain to be around and didn't even really like them? it would just fall flat.

you need to give other characters a reason to like them.

for example, klaus was awful to his siblings but they still stuck by him. for elijah and rebekah it was because they wanted to see the brother they knew return. finn is well his own thing. kol left but still very clearly wanted klaus' attention (my guess is that he had it at one point before they turned, but i don't know).

there should be something about your character that people like, otherwise their relationships don't make much sense.

2. give them a reason to be the way they are.

almost everyone has a reason on the show. it doesn't even have to be a "good" or "strong" reason. there just needs to be one so that people can understand your character.

3. they need to change.

they shouldn't stay the exact same way throughout the book. that's not realistic. people change especially when they fall in love. the changes don't have to be drastic and they don't even have to be the oc becoming good. but it's unrealistic for them to be the same throughout.

4. let there be other sides to them.

it's not very likeable if the only thing known about your oc is that they like to torment people for no reason. it will tire fast and probably annoy the audience.

you need to give them other sides.

maybe they have a weak spot for certain people or certain types of people. for example, people who remind them of someone they loved might bring out a softer side of them. maybe there's something in particular that angers them.

maybe they like things you wouldn't expect them to like. for example klaus was passionate about his art. maybe they have a passion they love.

5. if you want to make your story unique, consider making your character the villain as the book goes along.

rarely do i see this done. it's typically the opposite. the person starts out bad and slowly develops or they fall in love with someone and change that person.

but remember just like klaus and damon, they weren't born evil. they were evil when they were introduced and slowly developed. there's no reason you have to start your oc off the same way.

6. give them enemies

if they are a villain that means that someone out there is probably trying to take them down because they angered someone. i have read stories where the oc is the villain and no one is trying to take them down and it's just a bit odd?

understandable if the character is like a mikaelson and incredibly difficult to kill (and even they had enemies) but if it is just a random vampire?

how is your oc doing whatever they want in mystic falls and the council, elena, stefan, damon etc aren't doing anything?

even when the oc isn't a villain, you should have some form of conflict.