Murder Your Darlings Some More

[mariagoner]

I've a question to any and every writer out there.

What's the absolute worst thing you've ever done in a piece of fiction (original or fanfic) to a character that you've genuinely liked?

Comments

[mariagoner]

Scarily enough, I don't think that's even particularly sadistic by the standards of this fandom. So much worse has been done to both of the fon Ronsenburgs, oh my yes.

Eerily, considering this makes me want to write wanton sadism from another perspective: what could a 'writer' truly do to be considered sadistic? Refuse to let all of the strengths of the character grow? Render them totally impotent, destroy their potential? (Write them so poorly, or self-indulgently, that the character is completely boring? - Just quietly, this is what galls me about Vincent from VII...)

This is a brilliant insight, actually. I just love this completely. Because really, what's the worse thing you can do to a character besides neglect them completely or write them so poorly you turn your readers off on them? The opposite of love isn't hate, after all-- just indifference.

On the subject of sadism via destroying a character's hope/dreams: it's almost a 'story that could be', something that would be logical only through analysis and an understanding of precisely why this scene is so sadistic for a character with these ideologies/mental characteristics. Which requires a certain level of self-consciousness on the part of the reader as well as the writer.

Exactly. I've always been of the opinion that the worse sort of pain isn't physical-- it's psychic. And to understand how to inflict psychic pain, you need to understand a character's psyche... and hope that your readers can follow along!

And I'm glad for the chance to provoke anyone and everyone! People have really given me a lot to chew on through this post as well so I'm terrifically glad for the response. ;)