Why ... Torture Them Of Course!

I know with a title like that you're wondering if I'm bringing out the whips and manacles. Not this time... :-D

It has been brought to my attention more than once that one of my weaknesses when it comes to my writing is that I don't have enough conflict when I bang out that first rough draft. One of my dear friends, and published authors, has this discussion with me all the time. I once asked her, "Well, how the hell do I remedy that?" and her reply? "Why... torture them of course! You can't just have your hero hanging from a cliff by his fingernails... you have to pelt him with rocks too."

Okay... I can do that... maybe... *sigh*... okay, maybe not that easily. I truly do have to struggle to torture my characters (unless it's what they like, but that's a whole 'nother blog). And as I go through edits on the first draft of my Rocker romance I've been watching a certain movie in the background. Yes, I can do more than one thing at a time... can't you? LOL Anyway, so I've been watching Moulin Rouge. Yes, yes, cheesy, and sucky ending... but if ever there were a pair of tortured characters these two were it. My all-time favorite scene in the movie is the Roxanne Tango.



Something about that scene gives me chills every single time. As a dancer I admire the sensual, crisp movements of the dancers. You can taste the angst and anger and passion. And THAT is what I have to add. I have to add that angst and passion and make my reader FEEL it as if it were their own. Who knows if I'll succeed, but I'm determined to give it my best shot. So, before I go gather my rocks and work on my aim I have a question for all the authors out there: How do you make yourself torture your characters? And to the readers: How much is just too damned much torture for you to read?