Earlier this week I sat down to write a scene. One of my characters needed information from another character. Before I sat down to write, I wondered if I were even able to write this scene. Can I make a character be mean to someone else? Do I even know how to manipulate someone? If I don't know how to get what I want, how can I properly write a character that needs to do these things.
In my scene, I had the character call her a liar. She physically reacted but still she refused to give him the information he needed. My bad guy eventually pulled out a gun and held it to her Mother's head. Yes, he got the information he wanted. But what else could I have done? I considered torture. Have him hit her, beat her. But writing that was uncomfortable. I have a feeling I will go back to this scene many times to learn how characters can be mean and to try different things.
Life is interesting.
Whatever I want to learn, I notice the Universe will work with me to bring that information to me.
Today I encountered a customer that I will use as inspiration for many bad characters in the future. He started out a great customer. Nice, talkative, pleasant, complimentary. Then he snapped. Suddenly, the work he previously complimented, was poor work. We worked too slow, even though he had been told how long it would take, and it was done when promised. He insisted we should be responsible for work that wasn't agreed upon, and it was work we aren't qualified to perform. He told me 3 bold faced lies and he looked directly in my face when he said them. I was seething. I have never encountered anyone like this in my life. It took every ounce of restraint not to tell the man off. I admit, I wanted to walk off the job. If we had, we would have not gotten paid for it, even though we had already worked two days there. My husband, who also works with me talked me out of it.
Thankfully, I've worked at the store for 8 years, and hubby has worked there for 25. The store knows our work ethic and it is easy to see the customer was crazy. He complained, quite loudly, and he got what he wanted. He got all the work he wanted done, including what would have cost him $100 if he paid a qualified professional to do what needed to be done because the store brought someone in to do the work he wanted done because he threatened to bad mouth the store.
The point to this blog is, that if I take the time and look around me, I can get great lessons for my writing. I've watched movies and tried to learn from them. But, when I watch a movie, when I see a really bad guy, I think 'no one is like that in real life.' But, I guess that shows me I live a sheltered life.
People are mean. They are manipulative. They will use you to get what they want and they have no consideration for your needs or feelings. I just need to notice them so I can write about them.
In my scene, I had the character call her a liar. She physically reacted but still she refused to give him the information he needed. My bad guy eventually pulled out a gun and held it to her Mother's head. Yes, he got the information he wanted. But what else could I have done? I considered torture. Have him hit her, beat her. But writing that was uncomfortable. I have a feeling I will go back to this scene many times to learn how characters can be mean and to try different things.
Whatever I want to learn, I notice the Universe will work with me to bring that information to me.
Today I encountered a customer that I will use as inspiration for many bad characters in the future. He started out a great customer. Nice, talkative, pleasant, complimentary. Then he snapped. Suddenly, the work he previously complimented, was poor work. We worked too slow, even though he had been told how long it would take, and it was done when promised. He insisted we should be responsible for work that wasn't agreed upon, and it was work we aren't qualified to perform. He told me 3 bold faced lies and he looked directly in my face when he said them. I was seething. I have never encountered anyone like this in my life. It took every ounce of restraint not to tell the man off. I admit, I wanted to walk off the job. If we had, we would have not gotten paid for it, even though we had already worked two days there. My husband, who also works with me talked me out of it.
Thankfully, I've worked at the store for 8 years, and hubby has worked there for 25. The store knows our work ethic and it is easy to see the customer was crazy. He complained, quite loudly, and he got what he wanted. He got all the work he wanted done, including what would have cost him $100 if he paid a qualified professional to do what needed to be done because the store brought someone in to do the work he wanted done because he threatened to bad mouth the store.
The point to this blog is, that if I take the time and look around me, I can get great lessons for my writing. I've watched movies and tried to learn from them. But, when I watch a movie, when I see a really bad guy, I think 'no one is like that in real life.' But, I guess that shows me I live a sheltered life.
People are mean. They are manipulative. They will use you to get what they want and they have no consideration for your needs or feelings. I just need to notice them so I can write about them.
I love this post, Faith. After our conversation about your horrible day at work, it really got me thinking. There are some mean people out there but I guess watching them and learning from them can help us with creating and defining characters. I work in a place that has lots of horrible people, and its difficult to engage with them when they are just being nasty and rude to your face, but I try to take it all in my stride and think 'remember these moments, they could possibly help in future' Writing 'a mean and horrible' character is something I find difficult too, I don't want people to compare him/her to me. I have to remember, we have to remember, that it is our characters doing the horrible things, not us. They are purely fictional. And I totally agree with the universe/world/environment etc bringing us or showing us things that can aid us with writing! Life is all just one huge learning curve :-)
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