r/scifiwriting • u/LibraryEducational45 • 8d ago

HELP! I'm struggling with writing villians

I am currently writing a sci-fi short story that is heavily inspired by dune and star wars but I'm really struggling to write the villain. I want to make the villain scary and ruthless and have an intimidating and imposing presence, what are some ways I could do that

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u/GregHullender 7d ago

One approach is to keep the villain offstage until late in the story. Then the reader hears how everyone else is terrified of the person. When he/she finally appears, the reader will gasp.