Kick Them While They're Down

So, yeah, this is me right now. I even have the same hair style. Kind of.

I was chugging along the other day, writing away, when, all of a sudden, I felt that something was off. And then, I was stuck.

"What is wrong? Something is wrong! Where do I go from here?" Then came the downward spiral of "my book is crap and I can't fix it".

Thank goodness for writer buddies. I sent Stefanie what I had up to that point. By the end of the conversation, I realized something VERY important. It was time to beat my character up. I needed to kick her while she was down. Which sucks because I really like my main character and, just like any person I like, I don't want to see her do something stupid. I don't want her to be an idiot or have someone treat her badly. But, you know what, if I didn't do that, then what kind of story would this be.

Harry Potter is always my go to when I feel like I need to learn a lesson about writing. Remember when everyone and their momma thought Harry was the heir to Slytherin? Remember when Harry and Ron had a fight in Goblet of Fire? When those things happened, you felt for Harry, you wanted him to succeed despite all those hardships.

So, the moral of this blog is: Don't be afraid to kick the sh** out of your character! Plain and simple.