A happy 40th to my Sister! (No, this is NOT the tough part! I'm coming to that part...)
I have done mean things in my life and I can come across a bit aloof at times but I would not categorize myself as a mean person. In fact, I often will go out of my way not to be mean and sometimes I loose out because I am not assertive enough, but that is not really my point either.
I am caught in a situation that I am actually struggling with. In our walk with God our faith can only truly grow as we endure hardships. This is not to say we should go looking for trouble but it's only in times of adversity that we grow closer to God. This is true in our relationships too. As we face trials of various kinds, whether it be with a friend, family member, or spouse, often relationships are strengthened through hardship. It certainly can go the other way as well, but it is through hardships that we grow. I would bet God is sorrowful that this is the way it has to be but He also knows that in the end we can be strengthened in faith toward Him.
This is true for good stories as well. How many times have you read a book (or even FOUND one for that matter) where everything was all peaches and cream with no adversity and no pain? It would not be a good seller. Conflict is what makes for a good story. The ending may turn out "happily ever after" but in getting to that place our heroes must go through the crucible. In other words, as a writer I have to be mean to my characters, I have to deliberately place them in harm's way and as they jump out of the frying pan they fall fast and hard right into the fire. Not the uncomfortable edge but right into the white hot middle. I hate that!
As the author, the creator of my story, I am god to those in the book. No, they do not worship me or even know that I exist for that matter but I give them life, raise them, give them a cause and send them out into the cruel world, into the tricks and traps that I set for them! That is hard for me to think about let alone do but without it my story becomes flat and boring prose regardless of how flowery. I must exercise tough love. Some may die and others prosper but guess what? That is how life plays out. God obviously has our best in mind but I must think of new and more sinister ways of getting my characters into trouble.
It is hard! I have created these folks and I want the best for them so it is...difficult to purposely place them in harm's way to the point that they despair of life itself.
Well, just call me "meany" because I am, even as you read this, plotting harm for my characters and I am anxious to see how they will react! Stay tuned!
Bye for now!
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