One night, after
I had spent a long day with a stubborn geriatric convalescent, I opened my work
in progress and began to get back into the story. I hadn’t written anything new
all day and I was in some major withdrawal. My fingers itched to tap out more
riveting plot. As I sat down and opened my Mac, it smacked me right between the
eyes. I still hadn’t decided who my villain was and the obvious choice had
literally been right at my fingertips all along. I should have sighed with
relief, but I had a big problem. I had written this character too nice. Yeah, that’s right. The
villain had too many redeeming character traits. So what’s a writer to do? Of
course, I had to go back and scan my manuscript looking for places where I
needed to nasty him up. After that, the plot began to shine with the sparkle of
suspense that had been lacking.
Don’t get me
wrong. I often let my characters get by with murder. Literally. A lot of them
have killed at least one person, maybe more. But I like to add a little depth
to my villains. I love to give them just one redeeming quality so they aren’t
so one dimensional. To make them a little more, you know, human. But this guy?
He was just way too nice and understanding and helpful. Something had to give.
So you know what I did? I gave him a gun. Yep. That changed him into a
detestable jerkwad pretty fast. Once he had the weapon in his hand, he didn’t
hesitate to draw it on my heroine. Ah, did the universe just realign into
proper balance? I think it did.
I’m a pantser. I
decide where my story begins and where it ends when I start a manuscript. But
after that? I fly by the seat of my pants. Or rather sit at my makeshift desk,
which is really just my coffee table pushed up close to my sofa. My “office”. My
living room has become my favorite place to play…um…I mean work. Anyway, I
digress.
Here’s my
long-winded point… In between the beginning and the end, I allow my characters
to develop their own personalities and character as the story progresses. I
allow the action of the plot to proceed according to what my characters would
do next based on their personalities. The story feeds my characterization. My
characterization feeds my story. They feed each other. A symbiotic relationship.
So I let my characters get by with a lot, even murder.
Can you can
imagine how a story could get all janked up if one of the characters isn’t
fulfilling his or her proper role? Heroes should be heroes, albeit sometimes a
wee tad flawed. Heroines should be heroines, even if they have one or two
character flaws they need to work on. I love letting my characters decide how
they want to act and who they want to be, but sometimes I have to smack one
around and make him (or her) play nasty.
The result of
nastying up my villain in The End was
the characterization of Mack. Here’s the scene where Mack pulls the gun on
Ellie.
His fingers tightened
around my wrist. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
With all my being, I
longed to hold Betsy in my hand, but due to certain restrictions imposed by
Homeland Security, I had to leave my gun at home.
“Let go of me.” I
followed my demand with a snarl of anger and tried to rise from my seat. I was
hoping someone would hear us, but the square was practically deserted.
Just a flash of light
caught my eye. Black steel glinted in the sunlight that streaked through the
grating of the wrought iron table where we sat. I glanced down at the weapon he
held loosely in his lap. “Sit down, Mrs. Marston.”
I sank back into my
seat. “I’m going to yell—”
“Go ahead. I’ll simply
tell the cops out here I’ve apprehended a fugitive. By the time they get it all
sorted out, you and I will be long gone.” He shoved the gun closer to my
person, aimed directly at my lady parts.
The End can be
purchased at the following links:
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