Jennie Bailey over at Garden Full of Lily had an awesome post and it made me want to do one in the same!!!
I sit down at the computer, attempting to write, lately Sadie's been avoiding me, mainly because I avoided her. Suppose she's trying to teach me a lesson.
"Come on Sadie, you have to talk to Veronica."
"No I don't, I hate her, she's evil. This wasn't how the plan was supposed to go Jen, I thought we talked about this?"
"We did, but to get Jase you have to defeat Veronica,"
"I can't just do like they do in the movies and blame it on a burn book someone else made?"
"Ooo a burn book, like Mean Girls? I like where you are going with this." (insert my overly sneaky laugh here)
"I see that look in your eye's Jen and I don't think I'm going to like the outcome."
"You will like the end result, trust me."
"Yeah but how exactly am I supposed to get there."
"You'll make a burn book, duh. You will make it look like someone else's."
"Oh like Chelsea and Amanda's?!" Sadie is suddenly excited now.
"Yup, and then it will backfire,"
"Yeah I definitely am NOT going to like this," she huffs "do I get the boy in the end?"
"Depends how much crap you're really willing to take."
Sometimes our characters don't like to get in trouble, then again as a writer we are supposed to stick our main characters in VERY compromising situations to keep the readers interested. Looks like Sadie and I will be having a lot arguments, in which I will inevitably win them all.
Do you put your MC in harms way? Do you find it easy or difficult? As you can see, I find it easy.
44 comments:
I find it easy to *put* her in harms way, but it's a little trickier to maneuver the scene just right. Did that make sense or is Candyland still half asleep( probably the latter)?
In my new WIP my MC is always in some sort of trouble...its actually been pretty fun. Don't know what that says about me!
I intend to put him in harm's way...let's see how wicked I can be to the little darling.
Hardest thing I ever did was kill a main character. I cried - I still cry, nine million versions of the story later. But, it was what the story demanded - so it is wat I did!
I put my characters in harms way all the time. I think when I do that though, I tend to step into the villain's shoes so it's easier to write. I mean, it'll still be from the MC's point of view and everything, but I'll almost get more in the mindset of the antagonist. That way, the MC being in harms way is a good thing and I don't have to feel bad about writing it.
I don't mind doing it because I think I know what happens to him/her. They don't like it though and they complain non-stop about it. Can't they see I'm trying to make them stronger!?
Oh I like to torture...usually. I feel bad about it but it can be fun. **evily smiles** (not sure if that's a word)
Hope you are well.
hahahah...I bet you will always win...Its so fun to read this post:)...She is really not up for it, is she?
Kisses,darling
I don't mind putting my characters in harms way - well, most of my characters. As long as you win the arguments in the end, it's all good.
I have a little trouble keeping my character in trouble...lol she likes to sneak out of it too quickly before she even learns anything....sometimes she hides in a cave and I have to send a fairy in to get her by her ears!
I love putting characters in harm's way because it's such fun digging them out of the hole.
Beautiful post, Jen, as always.
Oops, I put my MC in harm's way all the time. Maybe it's my twisted strak of playing safe in my own life. I let my characters be wild and live the danger instead. lol.
I think it depends on the character. Like real people, some are better at finding themselves in sticky situations than others.
I don't necessarily put them in harm's way, but I do give them a LOT of angst to deal with.
Haha, poor Sadie! It's definitely hard to put your MCs in compromising situations, but that's the only way to get a plot! I love your argument with her--so cute! Good luck :)
Yep, my poor MC has been through her share of troubles. I have no problem with that because it makes the story so much more interesting and she's a better person by the end of the book.
I'm still learning how to do this...and really just to put enough of those "uh oh" moments in before the end. It gets harder the more I get to know the characters. Still, there are at least two or three of my characters that I use to do the hard work for me!
I like happy stories and love stories and flowers and .... sorry .... nevermind haha
Great post Jen!
I have broken her knuckles, her arm, made her fight for her life and put her face to face with a flesh eating water thing. And still...its not enough! I like putting her in trouble and making her be more than she started off being. she started off sucking...but isnt that the point?
It's pretty easy. It's fun. I sound like a sadist, don't I? Lol!
As a reader, though, I get so invested in the characters and am appalled how mean authors are to their characters!!! And then I have to stop and remember I'm the same way, haha!
hi miss jen! yep i get my mc in bunches of trouble. mostly i write adventure stories so it couldnt be a really good adventure with out having lots of scary stuff and close calls where he could get that mc dead. its fun thinking of neat ways to get him out of trouble.
...hugs and sparkles from lenny
Oh yes... I love putting them through tough spots - as long as they are justifiable.
In fact... I'm destroying a life-long friendship and someone's gorgeous face in the distant future...
I love suspense, and sometimes violence, for my characters. It keeps me interested as well as my readers, but sometime it can get out of hand. I had someone tell me once that my heroine had been through WAY too much and I needed to cut it back.
So cute. I can't wait to hear more about Sadie. I love her. :D
I'm....mean. I have seven Mainish characters (one of them being the actual MC) but over the trilogy all of them are central and very important parts in the MC's life. Anyways, I'm super mean, to all of them. But it isn't even on purpose. Like I don't consciously think - "How can I make this worse?" - my subconscious just laughs and throws things at me fully formed and it always seems worse than the last thing. Which is surprising.
Oh well, hopefully it'll make for an interesting book.
As I tend to write horror and science fiction, my MC's are often in harms way. They all love it, which is probably a reflection on my character. Oh, dear!
I'm a sadist to my Mcs.
I think that's why they return the torture and will block me from being inspired to write because I am so mean to them.
Love your post - it's so fun when the writer talks to her characters. Thinking on it, I put my MC in my most recent WIP in a lot of trouble. By the end of it, she's got so much riding on her that I personally would collapse with the weight of it all. But she's tough and handles it well. My other WIP, not so much, but it's more character than plot driven.
My MC's a private investigator so, yeah, I beat him up and shoot at him. And believe me, he complains...a lot.
To make up for it, I give him sexy women to sleep with. That placates him.
I love it too - it means that I'll be able to unbury them later on and that's the best part.
It's not a good story unless the MC is in trouble. Sure there can be moments of lightness and but there always has to be an underline of tension that explodes loudly and often.
I enjoy it, even when I get all emotional and freaked out and wrapped up in my MCs' nightmares.
Jai
I find it so difficult! I need to borrow some of your backbone!
I love to do it, maybe too much! But I lvoe having them kiss more, so they still like me : )
If we have faith in our characters, we won't overprotect them.
I'm so glad you found one of my blog posts "awesome"! As you know, I love nothing more than to put my MC in harm's way! How else am I going to entertain readers? "The harder to get, the better to have," as they say in Into the Woods. It's easy for me to do it and it's so much fun. I almost feel evil! Thanks for the mention!
I think I'd like to crawl inside your head. If arguments like that occur often, who would need tv?
My MC is definitely in harms way, all the time.
Ah, obstacles. They can be heartbreaking to us, but a necessity. No one 'really' dies, at least!
My poor, poor characters, they are always getting put into harms way. But only because I love them and I want them to be interesting. =)
I'm getting better at putting my characters into trouble. I still need to work on stalling them from fixing the troubles too quickly! :)
I love throwing them in harms way and from the feedback I've received people LOVE my action scenes :)
http://damselinadirtydress.blogspot.com
Sorry for deleting the above comment! Thought I had everything straight, but alas, no.
I don't find it difficult. That's not to say I don't love my characters -I adore them. The thing is, it almost doesn't feel intentional. I don't go into it thinking I need to create drama. Things happen to my characters -some wonderful, some terrible- and I try to capture it as best I can.
Perhaps I sound looney. I don't know.
I often put my characters in harms way. I'm sure they all hate me ;)
Glad to hear you win the battles. I can put a MC in harms way, but sometimes figuring out how to get them out of it can be a stumbling block.
I love seeing you interact with your character like that. My books are usually a bit younger so their usually put in situations they struggle with. I have no problem placing them in those situations because sometimes they deserve it :) It's all part of life and how to deal and just like real people, we need to show them how it's done.
Post a Comment