Frank Chadwick: On Villains

From the Space 1889 blog. The summary is:

• What does the villain want?
• What does he have to do to get what he wants?
• Why are the villain's actions so catastrophic that the hero must stop him at all costs?

"This is a tough one, but it becomes the heart of the story. It is the essence of the story's conflict and ultimately separates the hero from the villain. Since it's the heart of the novel, how big the conflict is determines the scope of the novel itself. If what's at stake is the hero's life, okay. We understand a person wants to survive in the face of a deadly threat, but that doesn't make them a hero, does it? That's not that big a story. Does the villain threaten other folks we care about? Bigger story. Does the villain threaten a way of life? Bigger story still. Is justice on the line? Is truth on the line? Will something of value to mankind be lost forever? These are bigger issues, and make the story itself bigger."

• It has to make sense (no "I want to destroy ze World!" unless you have somewhere else to go)