So last year I finished up a book, and sloppy as it was, let a friend who had been hounding me read it. And when I’d hounded her back a bit (usually she gets back to me quickly, this time the silence was ominous), she admitted that she didn’t care for the MC. Didn’t care about him, barely at all. And I realized I didn’t either. Possibly because I knew from the beginning that he was going to die, I’d never managed to get him to come to life.
But now he’s trying to. (As I work at editing Taro, in which he does NOT appear, because my muses are ADHD, yes.) And he’s attempting to convince me that the way to do it is to write him as an alcoholic.
I really, really, really, really, would rather not go there. Not to mention I can’t see how it would work with the plot. Him being drunk a lot would really–
(and, as I type my whine, my muses give me a glimpse of a beautiful, powerful, haunting scene if I just do what they tell me…bastards.)
Frecking blasted bloody hell, I guess maybe he is a drunk. If they can show me how to make the whole thing work, not just that scene. And if I can figure out a way to keep the reader from hating him every time he takes a drink.
And if I can drag myself to where I can write that. Let’s hope by the time that project is back on top that I’m ready to delve those particular depths.