Novel-writing is not for the faint of heart. And I’m not just talking about the guts it takes to put your writing out there for the world to tear apart or (perhaps more painful still) ignore. No, you’ve gotta be tough far earlier in the process than that. More than tough, sometimes you’ve got to be downright cruel.
Which brings us to today’s “Hey, You Should Read This!” special feature.
…Or can make for a pretty weak story, that is.
In her post on the amwriting blog, “Too Nice to Be a Writer?”, Doodles blogger Dianne J. Wilson talks about the kinds of horrible things we writers have to do to our characters, and why. If you’re a lot nicer than I am, it may be hard for you to hear. (Whereas if you’re a sadistic jerk, this aspect of authorship is right up your alley!) But as challenging as it may be – particularly when your characters are crying that they hate you, and you feel like the worst author-mommy/daddy in the world – just try to keep in mind that sometimes being nice to your readers means being a little mean to your fictional darlings.
Hey D. I will check out the article.
Lovely! I hope you find it worth your while. (:
I usually don’t feel guilty for putting my characters through all kinds of bad stuff. I always like the really gritty and dark stuff anyway in books/films/whatever so the more the character suffers, the better. Although there has to be redemption too. But that has to be earned. Perhaps that’s another place in which nice writers fall down and stories end in an unsatisfactory way; when their character survives because bless ’em, they’ve been through so much, they need a break, rather than because they refused to roll over and die and clawed their way towards love/success/a really big pile of muffins with their fingernails.
Gosh darn it, you heartless creature, that character has those muffins coming to him! You don’t know his life!