About Writing by L. Allen Stovey More about Characters In the character driven story, give your main character strong moral beliefs and then put them in a situation where their beliefs are in conflict. Thrillers and Mysteries lend themselves to explore choices involving justice and injustice. For example, the strong Private Detective believes in justice for criminals, but he also has strong beliefs concerning civil rights. His beliefs collide, when an African American suspect seeks his help. The man has been bullied and terrorized by a racist to the point where he struck back and killed a white guy. Our hero detective has all of the evidence he needs to convict of a crime (possibly 2nd degree murder) and he also feels that he was justified in hitting the man in the side of the head with a two-by-four (in self-defense). Let your hero suffer with his dilemma, carrying the story through the middle chapters. He strives to find a solution to his moral conflict, but the situation just gets worse (escalates). The dead racist turns out to be a police officer. That could guarantee a conviction for first degree murder. The stakes are raised again when three relatives of the racist officer (one is a uniform cop) start hunting down the suspect and promise to kill him when they find him. Should he turn a cop killer over to the police? He could go to the FBI or he could ignore all of the evidence and help the man disappear. He struggles with his moral dilemma, not deciding. While the tension builds as they narrowly escape death at the hands of the ominous ever present bad guys. Ah, but maybe there is a third way? Is there a third choice, a surprise ending? Can the hero and his African American suspect set a trap for the relatives and have the FBI waiting to make the arrests? Bring your good guy and the racists together in a final confrontational scene. Let that third and better choice ring true to satisfy your readers with a good ending to your story. Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars. Les Brown, Writer and motivational speaker. Keep on reading, writing, and creating great characters.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 13:02:00 +0000
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