• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Marilyn Horowitz

Marilyn Horowitz

Screenwriting Classes, Coaching, and Resources

212-600-1115
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing Services
  • Guidance
    • Writing Evaluation
    • Writing Guidance
    • Comprehensive Packages
    • Ongoing Coaching
  • Classes & Seminars
    • New York University Classes
    • Seminars
    • Free Video Tutorials
    • Movie Breakdowns
    • Online Stores
  • Books & Media
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Word of the Day
    • Word of the Day Cheat Sheet
    • Free Word of the Day Webinar
    • What people are saying about the Word of the Day Practice!

A Food Your Villain Hates

September 30, 2016 by Marilyn Horowitz

What food does your villain hate and why? Exploring your villain’s taste, or distaste, for a certain food will give you a deeper window into his or her psyche and help you better understand the underlying themes of your story.

For example, in the movie Fearless, the main character survives a plane crash, and the symbol of his resulting invincibility is that he can now eat strawberries, something he’d been violently allergic to all his life. This common, simple food thus comes to represent an important theme in this very interesting and compelling movie.

greenpeppersAnother example is in a story that I am currently working on, in which an important character escapes from a war zone in a truck full of green peppers. For two whole weeks, all he has to eat are green peppers, and afterward the mere sight of one makes him run from the table and throw up. Green peppers therefore become a visceral reminder of the character’s narrow escape from a violent conflict and his deep, emotional scars.

So, set a timer for five minutes and try to think of what food might make your villain ill. There may be several, but pick the first one that comes to mind. Then write about it as if you were your villain, describing how you came to dislike the food, the taste and entire sensory experience of that horrible food, and then write how you feel now when you come in contact with it.

This exercise will give you loads of fodder for your story, particularly in terms of the dialogue, giving it all a richer, more specific focus. I also suggest that you repeat this exercise for your hero and some of your other characters. It never fails to give you something interesting to chew on.

Bon appétit!

Primary Sidebar

Sign Up

for our Screenwriting Newsletter and Receive Our FREE Gift How To Write a Treatment.

Testimonials

Thank you. If it hadn’t been for you Marilyn, I don’t think I would have made the Woodstock film which… Read more “Nancy C.”

I’m very grateful to be able to learn from Marilyn, Her focus on the psychological and spiritual foundations necessary to… Read more ““…grateful to learn from Marilyn””

Marilyn’s techniques helped me stop overthinking and start writing! She gave me exercises to take the pressure off beginning a… Read more “The Word of the Day”

You are always a light. Thank you.

Desiree

“Working with Marilyn Horowitz has challenged every aspect of my creative process from conception to preparation, and most importantly, execution.… Read more “– Larry Lowry”

- Larry Lowry
Writer/Producer, Nickelodeon
View All Testimonials

Television Writing Evaluation & Guidance

Screenwriting Evaluation & Guidance

Classes & Seminars

Footer

Connect

Contact

CLASSES

Contact the office at 212-600-1115

MEDIA & SPEAKING INQUIRIES

Contact Marilyn Horowitz at 212-600-1115

PUBLISHING & FILM INQUIRIES

Contact Koehler Books at 757-289-6006

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing Services
  • Guidance
    • Writing Evaluation
    • Writing Guidance
    • Comprehensive Packages
    • Ongoing Coaching
  • Classes & Seminars
    • New York University Classes
    • Seminars
    • Free Video Tutorials
    • Movie Breakdowns
    • Online Stores
  • Books & Media
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Word of the Day
    • Word of the Day Cheat Sheet
    • Free Word of the Day Webinar
    • What people are saying about the Word of the Day Practice!
Copyright © 2023 · Marilyn Horowitz. All rights reserved.