Saw a writing prompt about 'write a story where the villain wins' and it went from interesting to shallow in just 3 years.

Back in 2021 people used to explore complicated moral dilemmas with that prompt, but now it's all just edgy one-liners and villain monologues, has anyone else noticed the quality drop in that specific prompt?

2 comments

2 Comments

cameron_chen6311h ago

fr fr the "villain wins" prompts used to hit different. i remember digging through threads back in 2021 and finding stuff about villains who actually regret winning or have to deal with the boring parts of ruling the world. now it's just "i am evil because i am evil" copypasta. if you wanna fix this in your own writing, try setting a hard rule for yourself: the villain's victory has to cost them something they actually care about. like maybe they win the war but lose their only friend in the process. also cut out the long monologues. if your villain has to explain why they're doing something, you probably haven't shown it well enough through their actions. another tip is to make the hero's failure feel earned. don't just have the villain be smarter or stronger, have the hero make a real choice that leads to their own downfall. that keeps the moral weight alive.

fisher.diana3h ago

yeah that thing about the villain losing a friend is spot on. i was reading this article about "The Boys" and how Homelander wins all these fights but he's completely alone and miserable, and that's way more interesting than just being evil for no reason. your point about cutting monologues too, i just finished a book where the villain spent two pages explaining his plan and i was like just do it already lol. the hero making a bad choice that costs them the win is the real key, it makes the whole story feel heavier and you actually think about it after you finish reading.