I’ve been trying to wrap a lot of my blogfest entries around to writing, and it took me a while to think of something that I could write about the letter K, but then it hit me.
You see, I have a secret fear when it comes to my writing… that fear being that I just don’t have the killer instinct required to be great. Villains are hard for me to write, because they involve motives that don’t always make sense to me (in an emotional way, not in a logical way). And then my other characters, my non-villains? Well… I like them. I like them too much, maybe. A part of me worries that I’ll always pull punches—that I’ll never put my toys away and play with the big girls.
This is, I think, Stephenie Meyer’s great fault. One of the Cullen clan ought to have kicked it by the end of the series. I was betting on Rosalie being killed off in Breaking Dawn. It would have packed enough of a punch, and torn Emmett to shreds—a depth of character possibly well beyond him with Meyer as his creator.
Good writers—great writers—don’t pull punches. Great writers make you feel every inch of indecision, or hurt, or loss that the character does, and lets the worst of things happen to their characters. My latest favorite author, Maggie Stiefvater, has torn my heart to pieces on more than one occasion, and by goodness do I love her for it.
I worry, though, if I’m capable of that. If I can really destroy a character I love, for the sake of good fiction. It takes a lot to take or destroy a life, even a fictional one.
I want to be able to do that, though. I’m seeing some hope in my future, as lately in plotting I’ve come across ideas that both horrified and excited me—and I think that must be the way it starts.
Hi, Stopping by from a-z challenge. I think it would be difficult to write about a villian or kill off a character. Good luck with your writing.
Hi Darlene! Thanks 🙂
Interesting point. Enjoying your blog and wrriting tips. See you around on the challenge.
Thanks Luana!
It is hard to be so cruel. As you said, my favorite stories usually don’t pull punches. LIke Torchwood had no qualms about killing characters off. It was so unexpected and left me wondering what was next. Which is something I love. I enjoy unpredictability.
I haven’t seen Torchwood yet. I LOVE Doctor Who, though! 🙂
I think you are correct. I’m glad I found your blog. I’m stopping by from the A to Z challenge and I look forward to visiting again.
Thanks Sylvia! 🙂
It’s hard, isn’t it? Hurting the ones we love?
It definitely is. Thanks for stopping by Angela!
totally agree. I think her problem is that she doesn’t kill any of her characters–the major ones at least. I mean even JK Rowling sacrificed one of the weasleys.
Great meeting you through the A-Z 🙂
nutschell
http://www.thewritingnut.com
Exactly, Nutschell! I thought that was (one of the many) things that stopped Meyer from being one of the greats.
Protecting our “babies” does no good for the reader. The characters need to feel pain because that’s how the readers relate to them. Thanks for sharing, and it’s a pleasure to meet you via the A-Z Challenge!
Definitely, Jeffrey, thanks for stopping by!