How to Write a Psychopath
How to write a psychopath in your book, and why you should.
American Psycho
Psychopaths are incredibly fun to read in books and watch on the big screen and have been popularised by some very infamous and somewhat controversial films and books, from American Psycho written by Bret Easton Ellis, Hannibal Lecter by Thomas Harris and even James Bond by Ian Fleming.
But why is it that these characters have captured both love and fear in our hearts? What is it about them that makes us want to know more? Is it their propensity to violence? Their ability to be cunning and manipulative without feeling any remorse? Is it their self-confidence and being able to think under pressure? Whatever the reason, our hearts have a soft place in them for psychopaths in literature.
In this blog, I am going to tell you how to create your very own in your fiction, and it will maybe help you spot these same traits in other characters you enjoy.
Hannibal Lecter
Traits of a psychopath –
Most Psychopaths are male, with them making up approx. 1% of the population, and are estimated to make up 50 – 80% of the prison population. Women that show high traits of Psychopathy are more likely to be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, which along with Psychopathy, is a ‘Cluster B’ personality disorder along with Narcissism and Histrionic Personality Disorder as outlined in the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual Version 5 (DSM – 5 for short) of the American Psychiatric Association.
Psychopathy lends itself to having many different traits, all of which are useful in certain situations, and can even benefit those in certain careers (below). Most people can dial these traits down as and when they need them, but a psychopath can’t and would always have these traits on the high setting in their brains.
These are low empathy, impulsivity, calm under pressure, manipulative, charming, ruthlessness and emotionally detached and show a lack of remorse for their actions.
James Bond
This list can make for some fantastic characters and even make for some fantastic story arcs. Maybe a character is charming and loving, and then later down the line, we see that it was all manipulation to convince someone to give up their life savings, and then abandon them. Tinder Swindler, anyone?
Or maybe we have a character that is a military soldier, a warrior, who is ruthless and can cut through the enemy without a shred of remorse? A police officer who will do anything to crack the case, or a surgeon who has the steadiest hand to make that vital, life-saving cut with everything on the line?
Psychopaths make for excellent characters. They make incredibly fun heroes to write about, and add a lot more depth to the ‘bad guy.’ We can look into their childhood, in that a psychopathic person would have normally come from some kind of abusive childhood, and uses psychopathy as a way to navigate the world based off of that. It gives the character more back story. More depth.
Professor Kevin Dutton
According to psychologist Professor Kevin Dutton, most psychopaths are split into two categories. Those with high traits and a low propensity to commit violence, and those with high psychopathic traits and a higher propensity to violence.
Those that are of lower violent tendencies are more likely to be characterised by high-pressure positions, such as politicians, CEOs, police officers, lawyers and high-end athletes. These could make for some great characters and some side characters, and maybe even a villain or two in there? Maybe the villain is a top businessman of a rival company that is trying to sabotage the hero’s chances at getting their foot on the corporate ladder? Or even a detective that drinks too much and is emotionally vacant when around other people, but is ruthless and driven to catch the bad guy?
Jack Torrance - The Shining
The psychopaths that are high in psychopathic traits with a higher level of predisposition to violence would be our classical villains such as serial killers, a criminal mob boss and even a soldier that has gone rogue.
Psychopaths make for great foreshadowing opportunities too, as they can be very manipulative. In your story, you can have the psychopath dropping hints and leaving clues for the rest of the characters to find, and then when the big reveal comes later in the book, the reader can connect the dots and have the ‘Oh my god!’ moment that we all love to create when they figure it all out.
Lorna - By Jay Darkmoore
In my dark romance ‘Lorna,’ the main character in the story ‘Christian’ is a psychopath, and he will stop at nothing to not only win the heart of Lorna, his new infatuation but also kill and destroy the lives of anyone that dares stand in his way.
Order it here on kindle unlimited today.
Psychopaths are so much fun to write and can offer a lot of depth to your characters and the story. Even just highlighting certain traits outlined above and giving them to your characters can make a lot of difference to your writing.
Have fun with it and thank you for reading.
But what about other writing ideas? What about being able to break through writer’s block?
10 Ways to Market as a Self-Published Author
10 Tips to market your self-published books
Hello everyone! Jay Darkmoore here - Self-published author of the dark fantasy series ‘Everlife Chronicles,’ and horror series’ such as The Space Between Heaven and Hell, and Tales from the Inferno.
Being an indie writer is tough, yet very rewarding. The progress is stagnant and slow, to begin with, and it can often be overwhelming when you have to think of all the work you have to put in be it from writing, building an audience, or content marketing to Vlogging, marketing, keywords, etc.
Your mind can easily become overwhelmed to the point where you sit there in a dark corner rocking away, wondering why you ever thought trying to do this task yourself would be a good thing. Luckily, I have compiled a list of tools and tips that can help you in your writing journey, putting them in a nice list that is easy to follow.
I have done a lot of research on this topic so that you don’t have to. If you wish to find more tips and tricks from me, then I ask you to sign up for my mailing list on this website. You can find it by clicking here.
1 – Write more books.
Have you ever wondered the reason why people follow you and read your books? It’s for that exact reason – You have written something that the reader had devoured and loved so much that they want more from you. Like after a great first date, you want to see them again. This is why writing more books and more material is so important.
10 Horror Tropes That Have Been Done to Death
At the time of writing, I have five books out of over three different series in two genres. My readers love that I write in a series, and through doing this I am able to give first-time readers a back catalogue to purchase and devour, as well as pointing existing readers to my mailing list and websites for the exclusive content I offer, while I am busy creating my next installment for them.
Writing more books allows you to expand on your skills as a writer and delve into different genres too. It allows you to hone your craft more easily, and listen to what your readers want next whilst still being true to yourself.
2 – Write in a series and bundle your books together.
When you have someone that has enjoyed your work and they are hungry for the next book in the series, it is great if you have a few more books for them to enjoy. Plus, if they liked the first one (maybe they got it at a reduced price or a free promotion), then they have already said YES to one of your products. If they then see another book in the series at a slighter higher price, then they are much more likely to say YES to that too. If they buy the next one and see the whole six or seven book collection for a much-reduced price than buying them individually, then you have a new and true fan that will read anything you put out because you have given them so much enjoyment. Write more books, write a series, and put them together.
3 – Paid advertising.
Advertising is going to be the backbone of your marketing. You can spend as little or as much as you like, with Amazon offering pay-per-click advertising, which varies depending on the niche and keywords. Genres like ‘Horror,’ would cost more per click, whereas niches like ‘Big Foot Monster Porn’ (Trust me, it’s a thing), would be much less. There are also Google and social media ads like Facebook and Instagram, as well as traditional media like newspapers and radio. However, the traditional media is more of the shotgun method of advertising and less about the targeted ads that will put your book in front of your target audience which social media and Amazon can offer.
Myths of Traditional and Indie Publishing
Also, market yourself through your content whenever you produce a Vlog or an email campaign. Do this sparingly, however. People don’t want to see you screaming at them ‘BUY MY BOOK!’. Instead, target the right audience and engage with them with your content, and maybe when they have learned about you a little, throw a book or a pitch in there. It’s a tightrope, and not always guaranteed to succeed just because you throw money at it, but it can yield great results if you play around with it a little.
Also, a bonus tip – Do keyword research and try to find your niche. It is better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond.
4 – Utilize different platforms.
I touched on this one above – Build an audience on different platforms. I currently use Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, and TikTok. I use some more than others, but I post regularly on each one, utilizing hashtags and keywords that keep the algorithm happy.
Each comes with its benefits. Facebook for articles, links and videos, as well as to speak to your fans through the direct message and comment action. Instagram is brilliant for those that are visually-minded. YouTube and Spotify are great for people on the go, as they can let the audio play whilst doing other things like cooking or relaxing.
Media is there to be taken advantage of, and if people like what you’re putting out, then the platform will show more of it to more people. Throw in some advertising in there too, and whoa, you just went global.
5 – Build a brand email list –
This one is a tried and tested way to make some guaranteed sales, and fans and to shine a light on your reader’s day. You can build anticipation for an up-and-coming new book, and you can entice those on the platforms above to sign up to your email marketing list by promising them a free giveaway opportunity, or exclusive sneak peeks at new releases. This is your way of collecting your own group of fans and followers.
Be consistent with your email campaigns. I have tried sending daily emails and weekly emails. I found that every day was too spammy for my followers, and it made me become a little too much. But then when I dropped to weekly, I found the open rate massively increased. But the key is to be consistent. That way, your readers will look forward to getting that new email from you every week and hearing about your new video, new blog post, and new content. Throw an email address in there and connect, or maybe a social media page too. Your email list is your own private flock of readers that will follow you wherever you go.
6 – Free promotions.
Free promotions are a great way to attract new readers into your world and by putting links to your mailing list and website at the back of your free books, you’re likely to attract a lot of new people to your material.
I find that with Amazon KDP enrolment, I am able to cycle my books through a 3-month period of free download and every month my social media and mailing list grow. It’s good to have a ‘dead book,’ in which I mean this is the book you sacrifice in the series and make it free whenever you can, in order to draw those readers to your content in exchange for them signing up to your channels and offering them the next book in the series at a reduced rate to really get them hooked.
7 – Upsell new titles.
As mentioned above, when you have someone download and love the free instalment in the series, offer the next title in the series for a reduced rate. They have already invested their time in reading your story and have signed up to your emails, so the next book for a smaller price is much more tantalising. Follow that up with a bundle, and boom – You have a reader for life.
8 – Free copies and ARC copies.
To capitalize on your mailing list, offer your readers and followers free copies of your book for an honest review in an Advance Review Copy. Set your new book for pre-sale and order some books to send out to those on your mailing list for a review and a promotional post online, or send them an eBook copy for free through email. It will get your ratings right up there and will make it more likely new readers will download the story when it gets put for free (thus repeating the cycle above) or they are more likely to buy when they see it already has a tonne of good reviews.
9 – Collab with other writers and readers.
I really enjoy doing this because not only do I get to speak to other people that are crazy like me, but it also allows us to share audiences. We are not in competition with each other, dear writer. We should work together. This is because we cannot possibly fulfill the appetite of those voracious readers all by ourselves, so therefore we collab together and make the reading world a better place.
I enjoy doing this through Instagram Live each week. It’s great fun and a great way to hear what other people are doing and pass on your wisdom and knowledge and talk to each other about your projects that are coming up.
10 – Be consistent
This is the biggest one of all my friends. Be consistent with your work. Produce books regularly and engage with fans. Be consistent, as people love patterns and predictability. Make them look forward to Sunday, Wednesday, the first of the month when they know that you will be releasing something to them or posting something else online or sending out that email.
This is a long slog of a career, and they say it takes ten years to become an overnight success. We compare ourselves to those that we see have made it straight away, but we don’t see the hours and hours of content creation they did before making their first sale or book signing. Be consistent. Dreams don’t happen overnight.
If you would like some further reading, then please check out my other blogs, and look at my own books, and YouTube channel and podcast. The links are all here.
Books I have found useful on this topic –
Write, publish, repeat – Johnny B Truant
Self-Publishing – Joanna Penn
On Writing – Stephen King
Thanks for your time.
- J
5 Myths about Traditional Publishing VS Indie Publishing.
Five myths of traditional and indie publishing busted!
Being an indie writer is tough. I have found it to be slow, arduous and difficult for pretty much the entire time I have been doing it. I have often wondered if I should just try to get an agent and get my work published traditionally. I mean, that’s how real writers get their name out there, right?
Being an indie writer is essentially being a business person too. It’s finding the current trends, how the algorithm works on the platform you publish on, and also finding alternative places to put you work, and lets face it, people will always take things form you for free rather than spend their money.
Places like ‘Royal Road,’ or ‘Wattpad,’ are great for getting your work out there for nothing, but ultimately (and sadly) free doesn’t put food on the table or pay the bills. So I can see the appeal as to why this sort of business venture would put someone off who essentially just wants to ‘write the book and be done with it.’ However, I would like to share my thoughts below –
Reasons why being an indie is better than being a traditionally published author –
This is very subjective. We only hear about those that end up on the New York Times best sellers list, or those that make the front of Forbes. These are anomalies, and authors like JK Rowling and George RR Martin aren’t your everyday writers, and you also don’t see that they spent the last thirty years trying to get somewhere in their craft before they made it to the top of their game.
For most other writers, the literary world is a struggle. They don’t make much of a living, and they are tied to contract that can be very difficult to try and get out of.
Through traditional publishing, when you are signed you will earn an advance of maybe a few thousand, but then you earn nothing until that advance is paid back by way of book sales. Then when you eventually do earn that back, you are likely to get between 5 and 0% of the price the book is sold for.
Where as if you make it as an indie, that amount massively ramps up to 35 – 70% if you sell on Amazon or through other mediums. In a nutshell, you earn as much as you work, research and market yourself.
Wrong. In this day and age, as well as the publishing company owning their authors work, they still have to do a lot of self-promotion and marketing themselves. Granted, probably not as much as indie authors, but they still have to do a good chunk. So, traditional authors get their books published, earn a fraction of the list price AND still have to market their own work? Hmm.
Myth 3 –
Indie Authors don’t get into book stores.
Wrong. Sorry to break this to you guys, but book stores are sadly on their way out. Unless it’s a huge store like Barnes and Noble or Waterstones, then your local indie book stores are really struggling to survive with the introduction of Amazon and other online book retailers. That said, when you walk into a book store, you are met with thousands of books at your fingertips. Do you really think that every one of those books is traditionally published? Plenty of indie authors state that they have managed to get their books into brick-and-mortar stores.
Fifty Shades of Grey anyone? Exactly. One of the biggest books of the 21st century was an indie published book and it was everywhere. So, that my friends, is a myth completely busted.
Myth 4 –
The indie publishing market is saturated.
No, no, no!
I don’t believe this. I believe that the indie publishing world is filled with writers that think they will become an overnight success, or, they publish the book with the intention of being an indie, and don’t realise that it’s is mostly about the business of writing as much (or if not more so) the actual writing of the books.
With being an indie writer, you are not just an author. You are a business too. You are the owner of your craft, and you are trying to sell products to customers. It’s that simple. You create a product and you’re trying to sell it to customers. Now, is there a lot of competition? Fuck yes. But those people that want to write a book probably never do, and those that write one book will not write a second. So, if you manage to get a few titles under your belt and build a small following, then my friend, you are ahead of 95% of the rest of the kerb. So, you’ve gone from having 100% of the market against you, to only 5% in competition, and that’s not to mention the markets and the niches out there available. So, when you think about it, not much competition and saturation there if you keep working and keep producing. But that’s the thing with this game – You CANNOT expect to be an overnight success, and you must know that this takes a lot of hard work and graft before you see any kind of results. But, stick with it. You will get there, you just have to want it enough.
Myth 5 –
Traditional published authors have the freedom over their work
Wrong.
If you are a big name like Stephen King or Michelle Paver, then yes you can pretty much go wherever you like in the publishing world. For us first time authors though with little or no following, we must take what we are given. Essentially, you become a product to a company. Your book is now an asset to be sold and marketed. How many times have you had a publisher or an agent turn around to you and say something like ‘we loved the book, but its not the market right now.’ That’s because these agencies are companies are businesses. They are in to make money and to survive.
If you go against what the publisher says, you can be dropped and they will own your book. If you write something that they don’t want you to write, then they can drop you. If you don’t want to write crime or sci fi anymore but the publisher wants you too, then you better look for a new publisher.
You have much more freedom as an indie. You can literally write and sell whatever you like and however you like. You can dance around the living room on ticktock if you desire. You can go start a channel on YouTube, you can secrete your bookmarks and stickers in the backs of other books in bookstores if you wanted too. It’s down to you to establish what will benefit or harm your brand, and you have only yourself to answer too if it all goes wrong. Freeing, isn’t it?
So that’s it everyone. I hope that was useful to you and hopefully busted some of those myths that you have heard floating around the writing world.
If you want to check out some of my work, then head over to Amazon and search Jay Darkmoore. Alternately, click the link here.
https://linktr.ee/Jaydarkmoore
Get in touch!
Thank you for your time –
Jay Darkmoore.