Choices

What I’m reading: The Executor, by Jesse Kellerman

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If you’re writing, you’re told to put some kind of conflict on every page. These conflicts don’t have to be life-threatening, or even fear-inducing for your characters. Sometimes they can be ordinary. The important thing to remember is that the character must make a choice.

A simple, real-life example. Saturday afternoon, the Rocky Mountain chapter of Mystery Writers of America had a summer pot-luck social. At the same time, our homeowners’ association had a summer pot-luck social. Given they happened at the same time, trying to attend both wasn’t an option. Conflict.

Changing and Growing

After Groundhog Day, some of you may be hunkering down for more winter weather. That's something we have no control over. But today's guest is going to talk about the choices we do have. Welcome Guest Blogger Renee Wildes to Terry's Place.

I’m the mother of two and the owner of a silver-dapple Morab mare I’ve owned since she was a black yearling. The little baby boy I used to hold w/one arm like a football is now 10 and can look me in the eye. My daughter who used to cling to her coach’s hand can now skate on one foot. I’ve gotten a bit wider…and grayer. Me and Sassy – graying together.

We watched Chocolat together tonight – my daughter and me. The transformation Josephine (Lena Olin) goes through is breathtaking. I never tire of watching a victim go from “I don’t matter” to strong enough to leave to strong enough to not go back to fighting back. It was like watching a butterfly come out of a cocoon. If you do it for them, they’re not strong enough to fly. But a bit of fight, a bit of struggle, makes us stronger.

How many times did you crash that bike before learning to ride it? How many times did you fall off that horse? (Well, okay, that was just me, but there was a Harley involved and I don’t blame Sassy for being spooked at a noisy machine kicking gravel into her face!)

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That got me thinking to changing…and growing…and CHOICE. Life is made of choices big and small. Every choice has a consequence. Don’t do your homework…stay in at recess to finish. Don’t eat your vegetables…no dessert. Don’t go to work…don’t get paid. Don’t get paid…don’t buy…whatever. Do I wear the pink dress or the green pantsuit? Do I tell Grandma I really hate the sweater or say thanks? Do I bury it, burn it or wear it?

As a reader, my favorite characters are the ones who face the tough choices, make the tough decisions, right or wrong, make mistakes and live with it. Learn from it. Change. Grow. Characters who are irrevocably different at the end than they were in the beginning, in both subtle and profound ways.

As a writer, I’m faced with choices every day. Who are my characters to start with? What do they hate? Fear? What would they rather die than say or do? How can I throw that in their faces? What do they do? How do they handle it? What does the challenge do to them? I’m a mean writer. I write fantasy, and my characters go through the forge transformation – set them in a hot fire and pound the bejeebers out of them with big hammers until a hero or heroine emerges to save themselves…and the world. (Or at least their little part of it.)

When my kids wanted to ride a bike, I gave them a helmet and turned them loose. When they fell, I’d brush them off and say, “Oh, darn. Try it again.” I’m with Rene Russo in Lethal Weapon 3 – “If blood wasn’t gushing and no bones were sticking out, no one cared.” I’m not a coddler, and as a result my kids are pretty resilient with the little stuff. I have every confidence they’ll handle the big stuff, when it comes, with the same practical, flexible attitude they’re growing up with.

I hope my characters can say the same!

Renee's latest release is Hedda's Sword, a fantasy romance from Samhain Publishing. You can read more about it at Renee's website, her personal blog, or the blog she's created for her characters. Thanks for dropping by!