"But Dude! Aren't I supposed to do my worst? Really torment and torture them?"
Yes. And no. Let me explain.
I started out writing my WIP several years ago as gentle exercise, just to get myself writing again. Then I discovered my Inner Mean Author. Astonishing things followed. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am amazed by the diabolical plots that lurk behind the unassuming faces of most writers I meet.
A while ago, my online writing partner and I decided to turn the heat up on one of our characters. I decided to let my poor girl get raped. For me, this served multiple purposes: to bring home to her the realities of the new world she was living in, to provide a vehicle to give her magic, and to give me practice writing a really twisted bad guy.
She was attacked by a magical dude who put her under his control first. The rape was actually secondary, and he believed he was doing her a favor. So it was a fascinating situation as well as a personal challenge for me. I have strenuously avoided any sexual topics in my writing, and since this was fantasy, magical, and he really did have good intentions and want to please her (in a twisted way), it was a semi-"safe" way to explore it.
The problem is that three months later, we are still dealing with the consequences. This character and her storyline have taken over the story thread again and again. From a creative perspective it's a ton of good material to work with, one that I might somehow put into a novel. But from the perspective of the original plot- not so great.
My point: If you decide to put any of your characters through major traumas, think carefully about the implications this will have for them and those around them. You don't want to get sidetracked from your original plot. Nor do you want to ignore the consequences and do it anyway; this will just make your characters seem two-dimensional.
Have you put your characters through major traumas, or pulled back from doing so? What was your experience?
(if you want to read the scene, it is here: Untitled)
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2 comments:
I'm debating whether to do that with one of my characters right now. But it's a situation where it might actually be necessary for the purpose of the trauma, which is the point of the book.
Good post.
In my urban fantasy novels, I do some seriously unpleasant things to my characters, because I thought at the time that was what you were meant to do. It kind of fits in with the world I was creating, and puts together some big moments, but there's a big difference between the first and second ones. In the first, bad stuff just happens. In the second, it's much more connected in to the rest of the world, and consequently fits much better.
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