Today, I finished my description of my antagonist and started interviewing him. It was kind of fun to try to answer from his character’s perspective. Rather than explaining things like I would in a character profile, I gave sarcastic and brief answers the way he would, described people from his perspective, and tried to see the world the way he does and use his language to describe his likes and dislikes.
This is still an area that I need practice in, but it was a good way to get into his head and try to understand him a little better. I did discover some things about his decision-making process, and even about his history as I wrote. Forcing myself to fill in gaps on the fly ended up resulting in some threads coming together in ways that I hadn’t expected.
He also hints a little bit at some of his most atrocious deeds without referring to them directly, almost like he’s proud and wants people to know, even though he can’t admit it.
Most importantly, I think, his reasoning is clear and consistent. His values drive his actions, and I think they are understandable, even if not consciousable.
I also got in a little bit of world-building, as his description required me to go back and fill in more geographical information like place names.