Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/32091
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Be aware that Star Wars, as most fantasy fiction, relies strongly on tropes and cliches. This means that 1) you _expect_ a villain at some point 2) the villain's traits are obvious: dark, grim, hunchback, speaking softly, etc.

This is getting more and more difficult as we go afar from the usual cliches. For instance, if you want to subvert a cliche or create a surprise effect, this doesn't work.

First of all, **you need to establish the rules of your world**. If I have a nazi swastika tattooed on my neck, today, is quite likely that I'm not a good person. So visual symbols or identifiers can help.

Beyond that, I must confess that I don't know how to help. **Every character is always described by their actions (words included)** rather than the look. And this is for a good reason: how lame and boring would be a character described just by the look? And how more interesting and complex and tridimensional can be a character who speaks with his actions?

Don't rely too much on anything beyond actions - that is the advice I struggle to follow in my writing, and that I give to you as well.

Original score: 4