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How to bargain from the shop keepers' point of view?

Is it a good idea to narrate part of a novel from the villain's point of view?

  • This is something I've been asking myself for a while, because I really like my villain and want to narrate a few chapters from her point of view. But during the course of the plot, she commits very horrible crimes (such as sexually assaulting a married man and burning down an orphanage, both to appease the demons she's hosting in her body and partly for the hell of it) and I feel very compelled to tell these from her point of view to give the reader a better understanding of what she's thinking during these acts. She's supposed to be beyond insane at this point, and I really want to try and see if narrating this parts in rhyme can hint to this and add to the atmosphere of these chapters. I don't want to tell these from the protagonist's point of view as she isn't present during either of these events and she'd find out quite a while after, plus her point of view is narrated normally. It'd detract from what I'm aiming for. But I don't want the readers being sympathetic towards the villain because she's made to be hated. I plan to make it very clear that the demons are forcing her to do this and I'm worried that this might overshadow that she also does this with the little free will she has left. What do you think I should do? Any help would be much appreciated.

  • Answer:

    A couple of thoughts... First off, if you do it, I'd make sure you're consistently using varying narrators throughout the book. Don't have the protagonist narrate, say, 28 out of 30 chapters, and then have the villain narrate two of them. Be consistent. Also, be sure the readers gain insight by hearing from the villain (which is what you said you want to do). If the villain can't tell readers something we need to know, we shouldn't be hearing the story from her. Many authors have successfully used narrators that we don't like. Just keep in mind there's a difference between LIKING THE NARRATOR and LIKING READING WHAT THE NARRATOR HAS TO SAY. Heck, I hate Hitler, but still enjoyed reading his book because I found the subject matter interesting in spite of disagreeing with him often. Or remember Silence of the Lambs? We saw parts of the story from the perspective of the killer, who we disliked, but we enjoyed seeing those scenes anyway (even as we cringed lol).

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Of course! Sure, it's different, but who cares! It's interesting. And, allows for some perspective. Is the villain bias? Well, makes it all the more AWESOME!

Rani

Maybe you could switch views between chapters? I've seen a few novels do that. Make the transition smooth though...you don't want to throw this in randomly.

I think its do-able. You may want to read some of Edgar Allan Poe-- he wrote from the villain's point of view very effectively. Many times using rhyme, he was a genius storyteller in just that way.

Paula Brown

Yeah, absolutely. Have you ever heard of the series Dexter? It's a book series turned t.v. series, and the main protagonist is a serial killer. The perspective of a villain is a fascinating one, if done correctly. I've also seen this same thing be done in other books. It was done well in the Gone series by Michael Grant and it was done horribly in The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (I hate romances, lol). You can use those as examples if you want.

chikitabanannas

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