Every Writer (Should Be) a Sadist

Photo credit: jdxyw on Flickr
If you're a writer, you're a sadist. I don't necessarily mean when it comes to your friends and family (although I won’t pretend there aren't any writers who are sadists in that aspect of their lives as well), but when it comes to your characters, you should be digging deep to find your inner sadist. If you don't, well, you're missing out.

You see, the most interesting and exciting stories are those in which everything that could conceivably go wrong for the protagonist does— and then some.

Don't believe me? Let's take a quick look at the beginning of the Harry Potter series.

In the very beginning of The Sorcerer's (or Philosopher's) Stone, we meet young Harry, who lives in the cupboard under the stairs at his highly unlikable aunt and uncle's house. As a wizard who doesn't know he's a wizard living with his Muggle (non-magic) relatives, it's expected that there should be a couple of problems along the way.

An inexperienced writer might have skipped most of the beginning introductory things that Rowling included and gone straight to the inciting incident--Harry receiving his letter from Hogwarts. There are very few problems in this kind of beginning so I imagine it'd be a pretty short first chapter.

A good writer might have created a couple of problems for Harry such as using his annoying cousin Dudley to lead to an argument (and punishment) from his aunt and uncle and perhaps making it more difficult for Harry to receive his letter.

But master writer Rowling takes out all the stops and makes it difficult for Harry at every turn. Dudley isn't just annoying— he's a spoiled brat and a bully who can do no wrong in his parents' eyes. When Harry is permitted to go to the zoo, he accidentally releases a snake into the public. When his letters start to come in, his aunt and uncle aren't just irritated— they're downright terrified and make it their mission to keep the letters from reaching Harry, which of course eventually leads to them running away until a certain half-giant with a pink umbrella hunts them down.

Much more interesting than the version from the inexperienced non-sadist writer, I think.

But creating one problem after another for the protagonist doesn't always come naturally to every writer, and when it doesn't, it may be time to sit down and tap into your inner sadist. How to do so will be covered in Friday's post.

Have you tapped into your inner sadist?

22 comments:

  1. Such fun, but true! We need to be sadists. Even harder than the example you showed us. We will have to kill people, even the ones we like. I can't imagine what it must have been like to kill Dumbledore. I
    would have been devastated. The half-giant with the pink umbrella. Lol! I love Hagrid! As for my inner sadist: normally I don't have a problem with that, although I have already created some characters whom I don't like to hurt. Being a writer (or want to be a writer) is a hard job.

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  2. There were SO many Harry Potter deaths that made me sad. You make a great point, though--having to kill off characters is a prime example of tapping into that inner sadist to do what's best for the story. Being a writer is certainly a difficult job. 

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  3. I am one of those that has trouble making everything go wrong. Not that there isn't trial and hardship in my stories - it is the pacing and the building that I struggle with.

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  4. I've found that for me at least, it's easier to run through a draft where I put down everything I think of at first, then add more when I go through revisions. It depends on how much of a plotter/pantser you are. 

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  5. Love the idea! I often have hard time figuring out how to make things difficult for my characters. I'm learning as I go...

    Also, I wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. You can find the post here: http://tinyurl.com/85c5g46
    :)

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  6. It can be a difficult thing to learn, especially at first. As writers we certainly want things to go well for our characters and although it tends to be easy to create a couple of complications here and there, when it comes to the more difficult problems or even killing a character off, it tends to be a little more difficult. 

    Thanks so much for the nomination! I really appreciate it! 

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  7. LOL!  Yes, I love being mean to my characters.  Sometimes they even ask me to be more mean.  (No, don't psychoanalyze that...please.  :)  )

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  8. I'll try not to think too hard on it. :D 

    Being mean to your characters can certainly be fun at times (I did say we're sadists, didn't I?). My characters tremble when I start to get bored with the scene--that's when they know something bad is about to happen. ^_^

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  9. I've found that for me at least, it's easier to run through a draft where I put down everything I think of at first, then add more when I go through revisions. It depends on how much of a plotter/pantser you are. 

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  10. I love this!  I'm sharing it on my twitter.  I'll have to come back and re-read again for inspiration while working on my #wip!

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  11. So glad to hear you enjoyed the post! Thanks a million for sharing it--I really appreciate it! :)

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  12. I've definitely had to work at that - how can I make it worse? And worse? And worse?

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  13. It's something I know I'll be asking myself as I go through edits again. It's easy to breeze through a scene without any major complications--much more difficult to pause at every goal and work on making it as bad as possible for your characters. 

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  14. We are so sadistic, aren't we? I think we're naturally a bit narcissistic too...us and our god complexes when we write!

    Hope you had a wonderful holiday, Ava. I' hoping this year is full of success!

    Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  15. We certainly are a quirky bunch. :) 

    My holidays were wonderful, Angela and I hope yours were marvelous as well! Here's to a fantastic 2012!

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  16. Yes, I'm a mean writer. :) Making life worse and worse for my characters is most of the fun! :)

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  17. Sometimes I'm afraid that I'm too cruel to the characters in my story. Like, to the extent that I'm afraid the FBI will peg me for some murders I didn't commit. Glad my psychosis is a good thing in your eyes.

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  18. "tap into your inner sadist" - i like it!! sometimes i'm not mean enough,(and for someone who used to read a lot of serial killer books - that doesn't make sense) - i'm looking forward to your post on friday.

    great post!

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  19. A tad of psychosis can be good for a novel. :D

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  20. Thanks, Ainsley! I think we're all guilty of not being mean enough to our characters every once in a while. It happens to the best of us. :)

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  21. Pretty neat blog name.  First-time visitor and NEW FOLLOWER.

    If you need another book, try my giveaway.  :)

    Book Giveaway on my blog….THE WICKED WIVES.

    Stop by and complete the entry form if you like.

    http://silversolara.blogspot.com/2012/01/give-away-of-wicked-wives.html

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