Hi everyone!
It's time to share our thoughts, insecurities, and encouraging words. Thanks to Alex and our co-hosts for keeping IWSG going. For those who aren't familiar with Insecure Writer's Support Group, just follow the link. It's a wonderful group.
I've been fine-tuning my YA realistic fiction based on feedback from my agent. One of her concerns was that I was too hard on one of my characters. That got me thinking, can a writer be too hard on a character? Well, obviously we can. Really, if you follow the advice given in workshops about thinking of the worst thing that could happen to your character and making that happen, you are going to put your characters through hell. But I understood where my agent was coming from and I value her opinion, so I asked myself if in this particular case, on the one item that she pointed out, does easing up my character change the outcome of the book. It doesn't. He's still a teen who prefers not to take risks with his or his family's future that decides to want it all. So far I'm happy with the changes I've made.
Have you ever been too hard on a character? Do you believe there's such a thing?
