Writer's Confession by Sarah Zettel

I don't like to make my heroes screw up. They face danger, they face death, I love creating a good bad guy and a difficult, fraught situation, but my heroes tend to make the right decisions. I hope they're not Mary Sue's, but they do tend to stay, well, heroic.

On the current project, I need to have both hero and heroine screw up badly. They need to be fooled, taken in, nigh on seduced, by the Villain, and it needs to last for whole chapters before they finally figure it out.

And I've just realized that the reason the ending hasn't been working for me is that I've been fighting this. I've been trying and trying to have them figure things out way earlier than they should, and, of course that takes all the suspense out of things, and makes the ending actually rather dull.

There's probably some deep psychology behind this, but I don't have the time to figure it out. I just have to write this d*mn thing, and suffer through it with my people. I'm sure it'll end up being fun around the time the villain gets to gloat, but right now it's a slog.

Cover me, guys. I'm goin' back in there.

Comments

[Erica]

Well, at least when you do it, your characters won't be fooled because they're *stupid*, it will be because your villain is wicked and smart. I don't know if that's of any consolation to you. I read a few romances a year, and the romantic leads having trouble because they're just idiots is one of the things that always annoys me when I run across it. Unfortunately, I must be in the minority because it appears to be something of a genre trope.

[Levioo]

BUSLOAD FROM ELKHART INDIANA REQUESTS TICKETS FOR THE SARAH PALIN EXCLUSIVE!Please help a group from Elkhart, Indiana become part of the adneiuce during Oprah’s exclusive interview with Sarah Palin. Elkhart is a community at the center of any discussion about economic turnaround and the future of the country.When the economy took a frightening turn, President Obama looked for the most-impacted community. He found Elkhart, Indiana, which went from full employment to one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates in a matter of months. Elkhart, In was the first community Obama visited as President as a way to show the country he was aware of our problems. Then, he came back to announce how his stimulus plan would help area companies.The world is watching Elkhart as a symbol of Obama’s efforts.We intend to show the world that hard work and innovation are the keys to beating the economic crisis. But we are also interested in the solutions are being suggested by other leaders. In particular, the Greater Elkhart Chamber’s Women’s Council would love to hear the thoughts of Sarah Palin. We would be very grateful, if a block of tickets to the taping be reserved for our Women’s Council.Elkhart is only 2 hours from Chicago, so it will not be a problem to make it to the show. On the other hand, you may consider bringing the show to Elkhart, as MSNBC and the Huckabee Show have done.Thank your for considering our ticket request. Please contact me if you have additional questions.Best regards,

[Giuseppe]

Whatever respect I had for Sarah Palin dapepsearid while watching that clip of her hunting caribou. Being a lousy shot is one thing, but I can't take seriously the notion that she's a real hunter when she asks if the rifle kicks, has her dad load the rifle, has no idea how to shoot off of a pack, and has her dad work the fucking bolt for her. I realize that reality TV shows are heavily edited, but anyone halfway familiar with a rifle would at least know how to load it and work the goddamn action.She's just another politician to me, I say the Republicans should run a Poptart Cat/Barry Goldwater's corpse ticket in 2012, Obama's going to win anyway, might as well .

[Pak]

How is it that so many Democrats are criticizing President Obama for not doing more, when the snktiing Republicans are fighting his every move? If he pushes forward, like on health care reform, he gets criticized for not involving Republicans. But when he tries to reach out to them, they sabotage him. Their goal is to make him fail. WAKE UP, PEOPLE! They want him to fail, no matter what it does to the country. Take America back from the RWNJs before it's too late!