Character Development: Being Mean

I'm a meanie and so should you be!

People who know me may disagree with the above. They might say that though I can occasionally blow my top, I'm generally a nice enough human being. They'd be wrong—I'm meaner than mean…to my characters.

When I started writing romance, I couldn't make myself do terrible things to my characters. I just couldn't. I wanted them to be happy. Unfortunately, that meant my books were finished by chapter three, with everyone being happy, happy and living in endless bliss. Nice for them but unfortunately, not very interesting for the average reader.

Despite figuring that out, I still had a hard time really throwing my characters into it and twisting their guts inside out. I mean, I got to the point where I could do it, but it was just so very hard. That was when I attended a RWNZ conference and heard someone very wise say something I'm about to repeat to you. I'd love to acknowledge that person's brilliance but the name has long since disappeared from the Swiss cheese that doubles as my brain. However their words of wisdom have stayed with me, so whoever they were, wherever they are, I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

The speaker said, "Write down a list of five things that your hero/heroine would HATE to happen to them." Okay, easy enough. For example, my heroine in Craving Beauty would hate to be treated like chattel, to be valued for her beauty alone. That would be point one on my list.

Then the speaker delivered the stunning light-bulb-moment-inducing blow. She said, "After you make the list, have those things happen to your character." Yikes! Now, that's tough. It means you have to forget that these characters are your babies, your friends, your wonderful creations who must not be sullied and you have to start being mean.

I took that speaker's advice and ran with it, figuring out what works for me. I generally do make up a list of 'bad things which would completely destroy character's equilibrium' but whether it has five things on it or ten, depends on the story. Sometimes, I don't have to do all those things to them (yay), I just have to hint that it might happen. So for example, if a heroine is scared of people leaving her, the hero might be a military man who could one day leave her forever. How's that for instant conflict?

This technique works for both internal and external conflicts, but I use it mostly for internal, because I believe that twisting your characters's emotions inside out gives real emotional punch to a story. A romance is all about emotion, and in the end you must deliver on that promise…even if you have to be mean.