Hey Blogger Buds,
It's a writing post today. Or at least an attempt at one. As you guys may know, I give out the occasional tip on writing, but I'm pretty useless at it, which is why I usually try to keep my mouth shut. But, just a few minutes ago, I started a chart, comparing two characters. They grew up together, long-standing rivals that hate each others' guts. One is a "good guy" the other is a "bad guy." And I decided they were a bit too black-and-white, good-and-evil, for my tastes.
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This is what happens when you have a Chromebook. You
spend obscene amounts of time on sketchy websites to blot
out things. |
Hence the chart.
As you can see by my...lovely...work of art, I tried to cover as many bases as possible without getting insanely specific. (This chart is still a work in progress, bt dubs)
I want these characters to be incredibly similar, except for the small things, like habits, and the important ones, their cores. The only real difference, in my eyes, is that one of them has more of a capacity for "change for the good" than the other. I'll explain.
"A" (that's purple, if you're curious and can't see) maintains the core belief that the one should be sacrificed for the all. This is not in any way a good, redeemable quality, because we want our heroes to be good and care about people, but A, at least, believes in sacrifice, in the greater good.
On the other hand, E (Mr. Blue up there) lacks a [normal] moral compass and believes that it's each man for himself.
Both of these men will be driven to kill. But someone who doesn't care about anyone but himself can't turn into a hero.
What am I driving at? Good question. I'm just saying that I strongly believe in the shades-of-grey characters (not to be confused with the Fifty Shades of Grey characters), and making your bad guy and your good guy mirror each other, not in a cliche way, but in a "look what Mr. Antihero* could have been" way.
I'd really love to hear your opinions on this. Thoughts, anyone?
Peace,
Riv
*No, that's not what the A stands for.
