Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Do you feel sorry for your characters?

Do you feel sorry for your characters?
You should. If you don't, something's wrong with your story.
I feel sorry for mine.
Oh, how they suffer! And yet, I lie awake nights thinking of fresh ways to disturb them and make their lives horrendously hard.
Why?
Because without conflict, a story is about as exciting as a stale marshmallow, a dead toothbrush, or a cracked porcelain bell without a clapper.
We love our characters, so it's tough to make them suffer. If only their lives could be smooth as ironed silk scented with blooming jasmine. . .
However, if we wrote them like that, they'd be so boring they'd put everyone to sleep.
So, another day, another hardship! For the characters, that is.

7 comments:

Story Weaver said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Story Weaver said...

Ah, yes.
I wrote a note to my character once apologizing for all the things in his life.
Then I imagined his response.
Ouch.

Victoria said...

Ouch, indeed!

Story Weaver said...

I Read your book SEIZE THE STORY and I love every bit of it! whenever i want to write i open up to a random page and read a snippret and all of a sudden i'm inspired and riding a writng streak!
Thank you so much!

Story Weaver said...

Um, as a fellow writer i was wondering When do you find the time to write?
i know i should plonk my butt in the chair and keep writing but I get so frustrated and worried about what happens next. I hate any ideas I come up with and haven't made progress in months and...
Sorry. i must be a bother.

Victoria said...

Thanks for the comment about Seize the Story; glad it's helping you with inspiration.
As for the time question: I'm answering it on the next blog post.

Story Weaver said...

Thank You!