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The Ultimate Villain Workbook: listing cover

Digital + printable workbook for novelists

The Ultimate Villain Workbook

Create a villain readers love to hate, from first spark to downfall

Choose your format

$5.99Goodnotes & PDF

What you get with the Goodnotes & PDF edition

  • 67-page digital planner with clickable tabs, contents and back links
  • Two designs: Classic and the colourful Pop design
  • Printable US Letter versions of both designs
  • Recommended Resources for Authors PDF

A hyperlinked PDF for Goodnotes, Notability, Noteshelf and other PDF note apps on iPad or Android tablets. Tap the tabs and contents to jump between pages.

About this workbook

Create a villain readers love to hate, from first spark to downfall. The Villain Workbook has 8 sections: concept, identity, origin, motive, menace, villain vs hero, arc & ending and more villains.

It comes as Goodnotes & PDF, Microsoft Word, Notion template and E-ink edition, or as a printed, spiral-bound planner, so you can plan in the app you already use.

Sample pages

Take a look inside

Real pages from the Villain Workbook, in both designs. Tap a page to see it bigger.

What's inside

8 sections, 67 pages in the PDF

Concept6 pages

  • Villain types & guide
  • Villains by genre
  • Villain in one line

Identity10 pages

  • Villain profile & naming
  • Voice, habits & tells
  • Interview your villain

Origin5 pages

  • Backstory timeline
  • The wound
  • Crossing the line

Motive5 pages

  • Want & need
  • Why they're right
  • Moral code

Menace7 pages

  • The master plan
  • Methods & escalation
  • Henchmen, allies & lair

Villain vs Hero7 pages

  • The mirror
  • Who's winning? chart
  • Confrontations & face-off

Arc & Ending6 pages

  • Villain arc
  • The reveal & the downfall
  • Redemption?

More Villains8 pages

  • Villain roster
  • Eight quick profiles
  • Three notes pages

Section and page counts are for the Goodnotes & PDF edition; the other formats hold the same planning pages, arranged to suit each app.

Highlights

Inside the Villain Workbook

Know who made them

  • Villain types, a two-page types guide and villains by genre
  • Profile, naming, voice, habits, tells, traits and secrets
  • Two pages of interview questions to answer in their voice
  • Backstory timeline, the wound and the line they crossed

Give them a master plan

  • Want and need, a moral code, fears and weaknesses
  • Why They're Right: their case, in their own words
  • The master plan, step by step, and how the threat escalates
  • Henchmen, lair, villain scenes and the mistakes they leave

Villain and hero, head to head

  • The Mirror: villain and hero side by side
  • Where their goals collide, and how the villain sees the hero
  • The Villain's Version: the story from their side
  • A Who's Winning? chart, confrontations and the face-off

Plan the downfall

  • Villain arc, the reveal and its clues, and the downfall
  • Redemption?, a villain checklist and sequel hooks
  • A roster to track every villain across your books
  • Eight quick profiles for secondary villains

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