Reviews for Bullies, Bastards And Bitches: How To Write The Bad Guys Of Fiction

The average rating for Bullies, Bastards And Bitches: How To Write The Bad Guys Of Fiction based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-06-02 00:00:00 Trevor Davis Initial reaction: A strong guide with apt examples on how to craft "bad guys and girls" in fiction. I was impressed how Morrell organized and presented this. Some minor quibbles, but I gained much from reading this and plan to use it as a continued reference. Full review: There's definitely an appeal to writing fictitious narratives from the perspectives of people who may not necessarily be heroic. Or, let's face it - they're the bad guys. Jessica Page Morrell's "Bullies, Bastards, & Bitches: How to Write the Bad Guys of Fiction" had so many takeaways for me as I perused it. It's cool that Morrell was inspired to write this in part because of the compelling antagonists that George R.R. Martin created in "A Song of Ice and Fire". I feel like people need to read this narrative because it establishes the secret to making a villain appealing in any story is being able to tell that villain or anti-hero's story in a way that has a number of solid foundations. That's something I see authors struggle with in terms of reading a lot of New Adult books in particular, though it's not the only instance in my reading experiences where such portrayals are problematic. *still writing review*

Review # 2 was written on 2014-05-30 00:00:00 Raymond Saliga This book was recommended to me by my friend and fellow author T.E. MacArthur. I concur with her premise that, no matter where we are in the authorship/publishing game, we can all learn something new. In this book, author Jessica Page Morrell not only writes about creating the baddies (antagonists and villains) across genders and species, but about how fear itself works. In order to play on the psychology of fear in a reader, Morrell maintains, authors need to understand the biochemical nature of the emotion. There are chapters on writing female baddies, antagonists, out-and-out villains, and anti-heroes, as well as writing baddies for children's and teen-focused literature. There's a lot to take in from an author's perspective here, but all of it is useful and will doubtless be used as reference material time and again.