Every villain is the hero of their own story. 

Students choose their favorite antagonists from books, comics, movies, television, and video games. Working from weekly prompts, students write fiction from the perspective of those antagonists, exploring themes of duty, trauma, isolation and heroism. Who defines a villain? What led these antagonists down their road? Do they think of themselves as the “bad guys”? Are they truly evil or do they simply have goals that run counter to the protagonists’?

From Draco Malfoy to Mysterio, antagonists offer insight into the darker parts of our minds, where fear, pain, greed, and obligation push us into making difficult choices. Working with familiar characters provides writers an opportunity to jump immediately into crafting narrative and exploring a more nuanced understanding of internal and external motivations of those characters’ choices. Constructive teacher and peer feedback provides additional guidance. We will also touch on historical and social issues that impact how villains are portrayed in media so learners can choose to break, flip, or adhere to literary tropes about “bad guys” in fiction.

Day 1: Villains are people, too! We will discuss common tropes and stereotypes for villains and work from writing prompts focused on villains' hopes, dreams, fears, and back story.
Day 2: Motivating villainy. What makes villains turn towards unlawful or immoral acts? Were they born bad or taught to be bad? We will work from writing prompts exploring villains' families and upbringing.
Day 3: The choices make the villain. Regardless of upbringing, every villain eventually had to make the choice to do something bad. We will write from prompts centered on choices antagonists can make.
Day 4: Redemption arc. How does a villain decide they want to be redeemed and what steps must they take in order to earn that redemption? We will work from writing prompts that examine paths to redemption for our favorite villains. 
Day 5: Create a villain. We will use what we have learned this week to develop original villains for students to use in future writing projects. 

Will these characters find their redemption arc or are they doomed to villainy forever? The choice is in your hands. 

This is an expanded (5 day) summer camp format of A Villain's Tale: Exploring Antagonists Through Creative Writing.