When Characters Behave Badly …

Over the years I’ve heard other authors complain about a character surprising them, or acting out of character. I’ve nodded, related and then snickered silently. I mean, come on: We’re the creator; we have the ultimate control, right?

Wrong.

The Evil Within.

No, I’m not that snooty and as a panster – a writer who doesn’t plot often but flies by the “seat of my pants” – I’m used to characters taking over and leading me through the story. Maybe that’s why I feel so close to the main players in my erotic paranormal series, The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf. They’ve come to life. Literally, I hear their voices in my head. At this point, there are five primary: Lawrence, Trevor, Lily, Silver & Nick, with a few recurring supporters. Right now, Silver wants center stage, but I’m not working on her story.

Currently, I’m writing book 3: The Voodoo King. The problem I’ve run into is with a new character that refuses to listen, or act in a way that I deem appropriate. He’s downright evil, and I don’t want him to be. 

During the past two books, he’s been illusive, hiding in the background – as if he didn’t want to be known, yet. This time around, he’s using power to fuel his own greed, and in some instances feeding his own sexual amusement (and not in a good way).

Within this series, I’ve written some dark moments. In fact, good friend, fellow OCC/RWA writer and sometimes beta reader Bren Aubrey told me that she stayed up late – afraid – while reading the first book, A New Orleans Threesome. I didn’t purposely write it scary, but with Stephen King as one of my favorite authors I’ve always possessed a dark side.

It’s a tough situation, because I don’t want to make him do anything that would be contrary to his personality. Unfortunately, within life some people are simply evil. In fiction and films, readers and viewers tend to want a happy ending, not a reflection of real life. Bad things happen to good people.

For right now, I’m going to keep writing and hope that at the end he comes up with some additional complexity, a redeeming quality that ties it all together.

Until then, been there, done that? Any advice for me? 

Creating Better Heroes: Male POV for the Romance Writer with Sascha Illyvich

Online Class: August 15 – August 28, 2011

“Thank you so much to our workshop presenter, Sascha Illyvich, for the wonderful insight into writing male characters! We have lots of great information to consider for our heroes now :-)” – Karla from Hearts through History RWA Chapter

Learn the ins and outs of character creation from a side of romance we rarely hear from, the male romance reader/writer! Erotic Romance author Sascha Illyvich shares with us tips on how to create more memorable heroes, avoid some common pitfalls and have more fun with our writing!

What you'll learn from this class:

· Male Archetypes and how they affect our characters

· How (il)logical men think and why they act the way they do

· How to take any male character from any movie/story and modify him to fit your story

· How to get your man to express his true "self"

· What men REALLY care about and how to work with that for your characters*

· A man's self view*

· The GAY MALE Viewpoint*

· The Male Cycle of Emotions and how it compares to the female cycle of emotions

· A man's journey in life

· What men really think

A few extras

Using character creations sheets (don't groan!) that have all the relevant information you'll need, you'll be able to craft male characters that are just as deep as your female characters. Getting inside the heads of your male characters is the most important aspect of "how to write" them.

Cross gender writing can make or break an author's career if they cannot portray the opposite gender clearly and accurately. With the growing popularity of M/M romances, it's becoming increasingly important for males to be portrayed in the proper light! We'll cover all that here and a lot more over the next week.

About the Instructor:

Sascha Illyvich started writing eleven years ago. His erotic romances have been listed under the Night Owl Romance and Road to Romance's Recommended Read list, as well as nominated for the CAPA.

He is the host of the Unnamed Romance Show on Radio Dentata and continues to write for Renaissance E-books, and Total E-bound. Readers can find his work, plus free reads at http://saschaillyvichauthor.com

He edits for Renaissance E-books Intoxication Erotic Romance line and is also part of the WriteSex Panel, a blog group defining erotica for writers in any genre! Find them at http://www.writesex.net

“The information you provided as well as what the other class 
members said was really helpful. I'm sure both my hero and my villain 
will be improved by what I learned even though I was unable to do the 
exercises except for the first one.”  -  Carol Jo, Erotic Romance Author

Note: This is a two-week class

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassAug11.html

COST: $10 for OCC members, $15 for non-members

Enrollment deadline: August 13, 2011

If you have specific questions, email occrwaonlineclass@yahoo.com

Check out OCC/RWA's full 2011 list of workshops:

http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html

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