How I Read From The Villains Phil Hogan Summary

Most if not all humans have a secret that resides in the shadows of their souls. These creatures of the dark are usually embarrassing, disturbing, and are just not suitable subject matter for common conversation such as obsessions or fetishes. In his review of his own book, Phil Hogan suggests just this. In the article “How I Wrote from the Villains POV”, Hogan discusses where the antagonist or villain in a story derives from, using his own and personalized characters as the perfect example of the semi-unintentional connection between character and creator. This article basically begins with the question “So is this character based on you?” which has become a common reaction to Hogan’s characters (Hogan). This comment entices the audience making them want to press on

Hogan's character William Heming was a "[…] a smalltown real estate agent who creeps into other people's homes and snoops through their private affairs[…]"(Hogan). When introduced to a character, such as William Heming, who comes off as strange or disturbing, a common question is how the author creates such a spine-chilling persona. In regards to the previous question, many authors inadvertently add bits and parts of their own personality and lives to their characters, so when a reader meets the character, he or she cannot help but seek the connection. For example, in Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood (a first- person narrative), there is a widespread theory that Capote fell in love with the real life character Perry as he visited and questioned him while Perry was on death row. Once Perry had finally been executed, these feelings of admiration and love became stronger as the novel came to a close. Now, while this is not an example of the author’s personality showing through his or her character; however, it is an example of the personal and private feelings of Capote being revealed unintentionally throughout his work. In parallel, Hogan hits the nail on the head with his claim that “[…]