As a reader, the black moment is the point of the story that always has me glued to the story. It doesn't matter if I have to cook dinner (I read while I'm cooking) or pick up the kids from school or work (warning, I may be late) or have to work on my book. (Okay, I do tear myself away to get pages written.)
It's the point where the story picks up "speed" because all seems lost, I'm sure the hero and heroine aren't going to get together and they can't resolve their problems, and I can't wait to find out how they actually do!
As a writer, I hate the black moment. I do. I become fully invested in my characters as I write them. Usually by the time I get to that big moment, I care so much about them that I...don't want to hurt them. I don't want to put them through pain or have their heart ripped out. I'm a nice person and I want to be nice to them.
But that's no good. And I know this in my head and need to convince my heart to go along with it every time I write the black moment in a book. In real life, we hate seeing people we care about struggle and suffer. In fiction, it's perfection. The more torture we inflict on them, the better the payoff is. Don't you think?
What's your opinion? Nice black moment? Or put the characters through torture? I vote for torture. It's the only way that makes fiction grab me by the throat and keep me reading until the end.
Until next time, many blessings, Lisa Mondello
Christian Romance Authors with Fictionalized Tales of Intriguing Edginess
2 comments:
I so agree. I hate to hurt my "friends," the characters, but I realize if I want to be read then I need to go for the juggler. Thanks for reminding me I'm not alone with my feelings.
Do hate writing the black moment, but then I remember THAT'S is what gets talked about the next morning at the water cooler. We LOVE them, and we want them to succeed--the bigger the better. And without the depths, there are no mountaintops.
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