One of my characters in The Twesome Loop is an abuser. Readers have commented that they really hated him, which, of course was the idea. However, during the editing/revision process, I was asked to give some sort of an empathetic side to his character (a reason for his behavior). This I did and it ‘explained’ his motivation to some extent.
When I recently watched the Ted Bundy tapes (which are truly terrifying due to his charm & ‘normalcy’ to those who knew him) it made me think that in fiction we ‘explain’ character motives but in reality there may never be one that makes sense.
Today’s question is: Have you been asked to ‘explain’ a character trait?
Were you happy to explain it or do/did you feel it took something away from the narrative?
Click on the post heading and then scroll to the comments. Looking forward to everyone’s opinion and experiences.
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 
February 3, 2019 at 1:25 pm
Interesting question. When readers take the time to express loathing for your antagonist, you know that you’ve done your job.
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February 4, 2019 at 6:32 am
It’s true, we need to bring out emotions – good and bad – in our readers…a reader’s reaction shows we have done our job. Thanks for dropping by.
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January 31, 2019 at 9:04 pm
I have an adult thriller/suspense I wrote that focuses on a forensic team trying to bring down a sociopath serial killer. He showed absolutely no remorse for killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. When he was sentenced, he vowed revenge on the entire forensic team. He is a drug abuser and blames everyone from his past, and those currently who are his targets, for the path that he’s on. I wrote this novel from the POV of the Forensic Psychologist then added a short chapter here and there to see the killer from his own view. Although I’ve never been asked to give an empathetic view of this character, my sharing his POV sort of gives a bit of background to answer the ‘why’s’ of his state of mind and his anger. I’m not sure he deserves empathy, but at the very least he shows his own logic for his actions. 😉
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January 31, 2019 at 9:22 pm
This is a wonderful response. We cannot explain away all of our ‘evil’ characters motivations but to ‘see’ their side would help to some degree. Thank you for sharing.
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