I’ve
been traveling for the past two weekends, hence didn’t post a
Saturday Seven, but I thought I’d remedy that today.
I’ve
written a lot of books and stories—it’s difficult to figure out
exactly how to count, but I probably have at least a hundred novels,
novellas and short stories available. That’s a lot of characters!
While
I strive for variety in my characters, the people I create have
certain commonalities. In particular, there are some activities
they’re very unlikely to ever engage in. This generally reflects my
own life and preferences—for the most part these are things I don’t
do, either.
1. Play
hockey
I
know that sports romance is quite a popular genre, but I could never
write one. I have zero interest in team sports, either amateur or
professional. And I probably know less about hockey than any other
sport except rugby. (Okay, I do have a rugby team in an upcoming
book. However, they don’t actually play the game in my story.)
2. Smoke
cigarettes
In
fact, smoking provides a quick way to establish certain sorts of
characters (for instance, the hard-boiled, world-weary private
investigator so popular in noir tales). So I won’t go out on a limb
and claim I’ll never write a character who smokes. I can’t think
of anyone I’ve written who does, though.
It’s
a bit odd, because many of my characters drink alcohol. Especially
wine!
3. Watch
TV as a regular pastime
I
haven’t owned a television in more than thirty years. When I think
about ways to spend my time, TV doesn’t even occur to me. Hence,
the same tends to be true of my characters.
Anyway,
they tend to be busy doing more interesting things!
4. Trick
someone into getting her pregnant
Having a heroine
seduce a hero in order to get pregnant is a trope I’ve encountered
in some romances. To be honest, I find this notion horrifying.
The idea that a
character might deliberately sabotage a woman’s birth control so he
can impregnate her is equally repugnant.
Child-bearing is
too serious an issue to play with, even in fiction.
5. Be
celibate
I might have a
character who starts out being celibate (or a virgin). However, given
my favored genres, which are erotica and erotic romance, it’s quite
unlikely such a character would remain so by the end of the tale.
All right—I can
imagine writing a tale with a character who engages in sexual
activity in his or her fantasies only. That might be a challenge. I’m
not sure you could really claim such a character was strictly
celibate, though.
6. Take
a selfie
I’m sure it’s a
function of my generation, but I find the current passion for
constantly photographing oneself to be embarrassing, even a bit
pathetic. My characters use their phones mostly for the original
purpose of communication.
7. Abuse
an animal
I’ve written a
few truly despicable villains, people who have no compunctions about
rape, torture or murder. However, I don’t think I could ever create
a character who was deliberately abusive to animals. Just thinking
about that makes me queasy.
8 comments:
I totally agree with #'s 1,2,4,5,and 7. Unfortunately, I do watch a lot of tv and sometimes I use watching ridiculous realty tv shows for my characters as plot points. And altho I don't take selfies of myself - I do have my characters. Great post. I lovelovelove the stuff your characters WONT do because it says al ot about your moral fiber and your ideals for them - and yourself. Brava!
Thanks for your sweet comment, Peggy. I don't mean to vaunt my "moral fiber". After all, there's nothing immoral about watching TV, or loving sports, or smoking, or even taking selfies!
Yeah, I'm really not a fan of characters tricking each other into getting pregnant. There's nothing romantic about that at all.
My SS post for this week: http://www.longandshortreviews.com/miscellaneous-musings/saturday-seven-gardening/
What a neat list. I so agree with you on #4 and #7. If a character tricks another person into getting pregnant, it would so not be a hero/heroine in my book. Where is the trust element then that's so necessary for a good relationship? My Saturday Seven is here: http://jhthomas.blogspot.com/2018/04/saturday-seven-books-on-my-bedside-table.html
Absolutely agree, except maybe TV (like nearly everyone else, lol). Animal abuse is definitely a hot button for me. I had to read a book for review a few years ago, where the hero is abused by his father as a child, and at one point is forced to kill his pet dog. I was, and still am, traumatized by that. I may never forget it as long as I live.
I love your "finger people" at the top of the page. Great insight into your characters, I enjoyed reading the list!
My post is here: https://thereadingaddict-elf.blogspot.com/2018/04/saturday-seven-favorite-suspense-series.html
I don't even like books where the critter dies. I've read Where the Red Fern Grows exactly once and saw the movie exactly once. Never again. I won't watch Marley and Me for the same reason. I can't imagine #7.
Here's my post: https://wendizwaduk.wordpress.com/2018/04/21/saturday-seven-seven-series-i-couldnt-live-without-with-meganslayer-series-satseven-saturday7-books-love-longandshortreviews-lists/
The only one I disagree with is smoking. Both of my parents smoked heavily, and though it contributed to their early demises, it was a hallmark of their personalities. I have one hero who smokes at the beginning of the book, but in order to be around a certain person who works at a hospital, he attends smokers' cessation programs there...and successfully quits. I have another hero who smokes at the start of the book, but quits when he finds out why the heroine finds it so repugnant. But my retired spies both smoke...hey, if you can survive 30 years with the CIA, or with KGB, nothing scares you, right? It's a part of their whole, "Enjoy life today, because you might be dead tomorrow," state of mind they both find it hard to drop.
This Saturday 7 is a great idea! I'll have to keep an eye out for next week's entry.
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