Thursday, October 26, 2017

Contradictions in the Heart

Zestful Blog Post #235

Honest authors know the human heart can harbor contradiction. Everybody more or less wants it both ways—a pint of mint chocolate chip every night and a trim figure. Ninety-five miles an hour and the cop gives you only a warning. Cheat on the spouse and maintain that spotless reputation. Essentially, yeah: ironclad principles and a free pass when we stray.


That’s one of the keys to understanding and developing your characters, if you’re a writer. Humans are always trying to figure things out, trying to live as painlessly as possible—but pain there will be, whether one sticks to principles or not.

Needless to say, that’s also one of the keys to understanding ourselves, our loved ones, and those we’d love to whack over the head with a two-by-four.

What do you think? To post, click below where it says, 'No Comments,' or '2 Comments,' or whatever.

If you'd like to receive this blog automatically as an email, look to the right, above my bio, and subscribe there. Thanks for looking in.

4 comments:

  1. yes! you really nailed this. great insight into creating complex characters. I miss Rita Farmer, by the way! speaking of complex characters. - AD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, good to see you here! Thanks. I miss Rita too, but not sure whether she's gonna ride again... Working on new stuff...

      Delete
  2. Thanks, Elizabeth, this rings true for me, and I like the idea of using it to create complex characters

    ReplyDelete

Tell us your thoughts! You know you want to.