DevinHarnois.com

Writing is hard enough, so why do I keep trying to make things harder on myself? My main characters tend to be of a similar type, and I worry that people are going to read this stuff and eventually go “hmm, this main character is sort of like the last three …” And I also want to challenge myself as a writer and go outside my comfort zone. But then I run into the problem of having a main character that’s supposed to carry an 8ok+ word novel that I just feel ‘meh’ about. I like them, but they don’t set me on fire like my lovely angry, dark past totin’, guilt ridden, good hearted characters do.

So in trying to stretch myself, I end up getting bored. In having a good time, I repeat myself. I think at this point in my career, it’s probably not something I should worry about too much. Maybe it’s something to revisit after I’ve published a few books. As my writers’ group reminded me, if I’m not entertaining myself, how am I supposed to entertain anyone else?

Apparently I have the memory of a goldfish since I just went through this in November and it didn’t stick. Vincent (who’s probably getting a name change) the main character from Flight, is an ok character.  Ok is not enough to carry a novel. The villain is muuuuuch more interesting to me. Whatever happens to Flight, I’m saving Eric Morrow and his boys.

The novel I just started has an ok main character. He might be saved by the suggestion of a fellow writer — that I write the story of how someone becomes one of my typical dark-tinged heroes.  Take a young man and ruin his life? Yeah, I can dig it.