Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#1
This has been something I personally struggle with. I've been writing since I was 9, and I always, for some damn reason, have preferred to put my characters through hell. Sometimes I'll even outright kill off everyone by the end. Maybe it's because I see "happily ever after" too much and want to break away from that. What do you all think/do?
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#3Sake Wrote: Yes to both. At once.Beautiful. I love it. Lol
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#4
whatever the situation calls for. Aint gonna let desire for happy/sad ending overshadow current moment
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#5
To be honest, I find it annoying.
I will challenge a character, I will make them earn something, and I will end something bittersweet if need be. However, the whole keep beating them down constantly gets old real fast. Not the audience for that sort of thing. I'm not that kind of writer either. I don't find it enjoyable.
I will challenge a character, I will make them earn something, and I will end something bittersweet if need be. However, the whole keep beating them down constantly gets old real fast. Not the audience for that sort of thing. I'm not that kind of writer either. I don't find it enjoyable.
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Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#6LJ Wrote: To be honest, I find it annoying.Fair enough. I've written plenty of feelgood stories too, I just seem to gravitate towards hardship for my characters more. I guess I just enjoy a good struggle or need to claw their way through misery. (Shrugs)
I will challenge a character, I will make them earn something, and I will end something bittersweet if need be. However, the whole keep beating them down constantly gets old real fast. Not the audience for that sort of thing. I'm not that kind of writer either. I don't find it enjoyable.
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#7Camelboy Wrote:LJ Wrote: To be honest, I find it annoying.Fair enough. I've written plenty of feelgood stories too, I just seem to gravitate towards hardship for my characters more. I guess I just enjoy a good struggle or need to claw their way through misery. (Shrugs)
I will challenge a character, I will make them earn something, and I will end something bittersweet if need be. However, the whole keep beating them down constantly gets old real fast. Not the audience for that sort of thing. I'm not that kind of writer either. I don't find it enjoyable.
only in darkness can light shine brightly
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#8
All of the above. Hardship comes first, which leads to growth, which leads to success.
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#9
I like to give the main character a taste of happiness, of love, then rip it away violently. I make them try to claw their way back to it, screaming. Maybe I'll reward them for their effort and struggle, maybe I won't. Only time tells from story to story.
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Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#10Camelboy Wrote: I like to give the main character a taste of happiness, of love, then rip it away violently. I make them try to claw their way back to it, screaming. Maybe I'll reward them for their effort and struggle, maybe I won't. Only time tells from story to story.
Oh, so you're a bit different from me.
I like inducing character development through suffering.
Hmm...how to explain it.
Rather than going through a 1:0 of pain and pleasure, I just combine both into a single feeling, and that constituted the struggle, the conflict, and the character development.
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#11
Well, if they don't struggle, there is no obstacle for them to overcome. So I am quite happy in seeing them suffer until they succeed.
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#12Sake Wrote:I like it :) what fiction of yours do you think this is most utilized?Camelboy Wrote: I like to give the main character a taste of happiness, of love, then rip it away violently. I make them try to claw their way back to it, screaming. Maybe I'll reward them for their effort and struggle, maybe I won't. Only time tells from story to story.
Oh, so you're a bit different from me.
I like inducing character development through suffering.
Hmm...how to explain it.
Rather than going through a 1:0 of pain and pleasure, I just combine both into a single feeling, and that constituted the struggle, the conflict, and the character development.
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#13Camelboy Wrote:Sake Wrote:I like it :) what fiction of yours do you think this is most utilized?Camelboy Wrote: I like to give the main character a taste of happiness, of love, then rip it away violently. I make them try to claw their way back to it, screaming. Maybe I'll reward them for their effort and struggle, maybe I won't. Only time tells from story to story.
Oh, so you're a bit different from me.
I like inducing character development through suffering.
Hmm...how to explain it.
Rather than going through a 1:0 of pain and pleasure, I just combine both into a single feeling, and that constituted the struggle, the conflict, and the character development.
nothing on rr
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#14Sake Wrote:So sadCamelboy Wrote:Sake Wrote:I like it :) what fiction of yours do you think this is most utilized?Camelboy Wrote: I like to give the main character a taste of happiness, of love, then rip it away violently. I make them try to claw their way back to it, screaming. Maybe I'll reward them for their effort and struggle, maybe I won't. Only time tells from story to story.
Oh, so you're a bit different from me.
I like inducing character development through suffering.
Hmm...how to explain it.
Rather than going through a 1:0 of pain and pleasure, I just combine both into a single feeling, and that constituted the struggle, the conflict, and the character development.
nothing on rr
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#15
It’s kind of a mix for me. I tell my friend that the more bad stuff that happens to a character, the more likely they’re one of my favorites. There’s hardly an important character who doesn’t have a couple of struggles, but no matter what they grow or gain something from that experience.
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#16
The question seems to imply that there's some sort of ultimatum between either them being tormented or succeeding when in truth you can have them be tormented and succeed after that. The more hardships and obstacles they have to overcome, the greater the reward they will reap, right? That being said, placing your characters in horrible situations is really fun, cause that's when they show their true colours and virtue and get to shine the most in my opinion.
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#17PuppyLuvr06 Wrote: It’s kind of a mix for me. I tell my friend that the more bad stuff that happens to a character, the more likely they’re one of my favorites. There’s hardly an important character who doesn’t have a couple of struggles, but no matter what they grow or gain something from that experience.You'd love Thomas is my story then.
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#18Armorien Wrote: The question seems to imply that there's some sort of ultimatum between either them being tormented or succeeding when in truth you can have them be tormented and succeed after that. The more hardships and obstacles they have to overcome, the greater the reward they will reap, right? That being said, placing your characters in horrible situations is really fun, cause that's when they show their true colours and virtue and get to shine the most in my opinion.Or you could put them through hell and they end up mentally cracked or become the antagonist :) delicious
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#19Camelboy Wrote:Only problem with this is that I love writing protagonists who are already mentally cracked, not necessarily in an evil way mind you, but in a way that makes them come off as strange to those around them. So when you put them through hell, they tend to just take it as motivation and as a means to continue.Armorien Wrote: The question seems to imply that there's some sort of ultimatum between either them being tormented or succeeding when in truth you can have them be tormented and succeed after that. The more hardships and obstacles they have to overcome, the greater the reward they will reap, right? That being said, placing your characters in horrible situations is really fun, cause that's when they show their true colours and virtue and get to shine the most in my opinion.Or you could put them through hell and they end up mentally cracked or become the antagonist :) delicious
Re: Do you prefer to see your character grow and succeed or tormented and suffer?
#20
My writing’s somewhere in between—I like to write characters having fun and succeeding, but at the same time, a plot can’t plot on it’s own, right? A lot of my characters ultimately get happy endings, but after having been troubled in the past (one of my favorite OCs is an example of this); then there are the characters who start out nice, and during the story their lives go horribly wrong very quickly. Overall, though, whether I prefer one over the other is situational.