: Re: How would I be mean to my character? My book is about a boy who wants to run away from home, and while writing a plan to run away from home he discovers all the reasons that he should

@Murray831

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You can have all sorts of bad things happen to your character, because in the end you know they prevail. But to avoid diluting the tension you have to make it seem like the bad things are insurmountable.

Have them lose. Have them suffer setbacks.

I think in traditional script-writing parlance there's a part of the story where the main character is up a tree and having coconuts biffed at them. They can't go down, they can't go up and they can't stay where they are.

If you've ever done any roleplaying (e.g. D&D) then you can do to your character all the things which would be unfair if the DM did them to the players. Have them be outnumbered, have them be captured. Inflict wounds upon them, even permanent disabilities. Have their home town be destroyed. Have their army defeated.

This is covered in books/articles about the hero's journey.

A common staple in romance is the misunderstanding which prevents communication. E.g. the love interest sees the hero(ine) doing something which is perfectly explainable, but at first glance seems utterly reprehensible, thus rendering them unwilling to even listen to an explanation.

Here's an example from Pro-wrestling (modern day soap operas with a side helping of athleticism and drama).

The wrestler is explaining to a female wrestler how to do a basic 'take down'. E.g. she has to reach down between her legs and grab the leg of the person (the theoretical opponent) who is standing behind her, and pull it forward through her legs, thus taking the opponent off balance and down to the mat. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if this works in real life, or if it does that it requires ridiculous amounts of skill to pull it off).

Just as the female wrestler is bent over to grab his foot, his wife enters the office and sees her bent over doggy-style in front of her husband with his hands on her hips, as though they were getting it on. Wrestler's wife is furious and slams the door before he can explain. Female wrestler shrugs and walks off, essentially saying that it's not her problem and she doesn't want to get involved.

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