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Anyone can call in and ask questions: At the appointed time, dial 1-857-232-0155 (long distance charges may apply, depending on your phone plan). Enter the Conference Code: 245657. To raise your hand and ask a question, dial 5*. To Mute yourself, dial 4*.

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

09: Dan Wells: Monsters, Sociopaths, and Other Sympathetic Characters

Tonight Dan Wells told us about the secrets of creating sympathetic villains, heroic sociopaths, and many other things he learned as the author of I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, MR. MONSTER, and the soon-to-be-released I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU.

When he's not writing, Dan also co-hosts Writing Excuses, a weekly writing-advice podcast with Brandon Sanderson and Howard Tayler.

Among Dan's advice:
  • A humorous sociopath with a lousy life who wants to be good will evoke reader's sympathies
  • A good villain will be flashy and/or relatable and/or fascinating
  • Villains need a believable goal--if they want to blow up the world, they'll be just as dead as everyone else if they accomplish it, so it might be a tough sell to your readers
  • A villain can have a try-fail cycle, too--if you're careful
**Warning, this call contains spoilers for I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER**

As always, you can listen to the call here:


Or you can listen to it on Window's Media Player.
(If you're having trouble downloading, switch to Internet Explorer.)

Thanks to Dan and to everyone who called in!
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5 comments:

  1. Donna K. WeaverMarch 24, 2011 at 6:11 AM

    I loved the neighborhood kid knocking on the door so persistently. =D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Regina RichardsMarch 24, 2011 at 7:45 AM

    Thanks, Dan. Great conference call. I learned a lot and you helped me define a question about my villian that I believe will help me make him a more interesting sort.

    I love these teleconference nights. I put my phone in my ear and listen while I do the dishes, clean the toilets, fold the laundry, and do all sorts of other glamorous tasks I can do on autopilot while I listen and learn. Much better than YouTube videos where I am trapped in front of the screen.

    Thanks again,

    Regina Richards

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 24, 2011 at 5:28 PM

    Curious- Will this call be made available as an mp3 as well?

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMarch 24, 2011 at 5:32 PM

    Never mind. I figured it out. Thanks for making these available!

    ReplyDelete
  5. ShashankJuly 3, 2021 at 5:41 AM

    Students Download AP Inter 1st & 2nd Year Model Paper 2022 at Official Website Only, Andhra Pradesh Board of Intermediate Education is a Board of education in Andhra Pradesh, India. It was in Hyderabad in the composite Andhra Pradesh state and it is now located at Vijayawada after state reorganization in 2014. AP 1st Inter Model Paper 2022 Board of Intermediate Education offers General stream Groups and Vocational stream Groups. General stream groups include Science, Humanities and Commerce Groups, BIEAP Conduct Inter 1st & 2nd Year Public exam AP state 13 District wise. Board of Intermediate Examination Andhra Pradesh (BIEAP) conducts the Intermediate Examination for 1st and 2nd year in the month of March annually.

    ReplyDelete

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