: Re: How can I push a protagonist to a moral event horizon without making them a sympathetic Sue? We human beings have no control over our destiny, and it is arrogant and foolish to think as such.

You really have two questions here. First, how do you write a story with no free will? Second, what would make someone choose to become a monster?

For the first question, your character needs agency. It doesn't matter if the outcome is predetemined, the character still needs to do something to try to change the course of events. Oedipus was always going to kill his father and marry his mother, but he didn't sit at home waiting for that to happen. He left home and tried to avoid his fate. Characters who sit at home and accept their fate are boring and unrelatable.

For the second question, it does not matter how many tragedies the character suffers, but what he is thinking about at the moment the decision occurs. Your character needs to want something badly at that moment and believe that becoming a monster will accomplish it. Using DPT's Anakin example, Padme isn't even dead when Anakin accepts the dark side, but in that moment he is so convinced that the Dark Side will save her and so afraid to lose her that he does whatever will save her.

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: Re: How can I push a protagonist to a moral event horizon without making them a sympathetic Sue? We human beings have no control over our destiny, and it is arrogant and foolish to think as such.

More posts by @Barnes643

: Need advice about the structure of my body part My first body part will argument that educating young children about history is of importance. The permitted words for this part is 150 words.

: What if my published short story is made a movie or a novel, without my permission? I am writing a short story and thinking of publishing it in the next month. But then, I had a doubt.

: How do I portray irrational anger in first person? Characters (and people) get angry at all sorts of things that might not make sense to the outside observer: Marty McFly and the word "chicken,"

: Are competitions worth it in order to get published? I have recently finished my 25,000 word novella and contacted some publishers and agents about a month ago. I have only heard back from

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