The truth is this: too many bad guys simply aren’t that interesting. The antagonist’s best scenes are almost always going to be those in which the protagonist is also present—and in which they’re able to react to one another. By extension, that means all those lengthy scenes in which the antagonist broods to himself or monologues to a slavish henchman about his evil plans and twisted backstory aren’t likely to rivet readers’ attention.
When I’m in the depths of a gripping story, only to turn the page and realize I’m about to enter the antagonist’s point of view, I almost always cringe. I hardly ever care about the bad guy’s POV. Unless we’re talking about anti-heroes or a villain who is at least going to offer the potential for sympathy and change, his POV is going to be boring. So before you add your villain’s POV to your story, consider whether it’s really adding anything. Is this character as fascinating as you think he is? Is he a real, interesting, three-dimensional person—or is he going to have readers flipping ahead to get back to your protagonist?
