This is a question on my mind as I dive into my 14th Presents. I’ve written characters with shady pasts before, people who have sinned much and needed forgiveness (much!). But I’m working on a heroine now who has a past that goes well beyond shady. And while I try to dig deep and uncover the events that left her the profoundly mess up, scarred up person she is, I’m asking myself: How bad is too bad?
Redemption is a common theme in my books. I think of love as a cure, as balm for you soul. And people who are ‘sick’ need medicine more than those who are in perfect health. That’s why I like working with damaged characters. They need it more. Their climb is steeper, their pain is sharper, their wounds are deeper.
I’ve written characters who have scars through no fault of their own: Adham, Zahir, Noelle. And then I’ve written characters who had a hand in their downfall: Carlotta, Blaise and Zack. (If you haven’t met all of these characters…you will!) I like dealing with both, but there’s a particularly dark element involved when the character has partial, or total, responsibility for the predicament they’re in.
My current heroine had hard circumstances, but the major pain in her past was her own fault. She’s moved forward, she’s changed, but she’s still very effected by the mistakes she made.
So my question is: How bad is too bad? What can a character never come back from, even if it’s in the distant past? Or does everyone deserve a chance at happily ever after?
(Pssst…feel free to pop over to the previous blog post and congratulate Robyn if you haven’t already!)
I can only give my point of view but for my money there’s nothing (within the guidelines of a Harlequin book) that can’t be forgiven……..providing (there’s always a ‘but’ isn’t there?) that it’s written appropriately.
If your heroine was a drug addicted, puppy slaying, child slapping, prostitute and in the space of a paragraph or two she says: “Sorry. My bad” and then becomes a tree hugging, visiting sick kids in hospital, volunteering at the local RSPCA, singing in the church choir, angel then I’m going to slap your book shut and write you a very strongly worded email.
However, I know you would never do that to me (or any of your other readers of course) so we’re in safe hands. One of the strongest selling points in your books is how effectively you delve into human character and dig out all the deep dark nasty bits and by bringing them to light, you also show us the good stuff – the vulnerability, the courage, the determination, how deserving the character is of being loved etc. You’ve said it time and time again on your blog: you need to trust your own instincts and even though you think you’ve gone too far, you haven’t.
Push that envelope girl. Push ah, push it, push ah, push it. Ooo baby, baby …..sorry just having a Salt’n'Pepa moment there.
Move along, now. Nothing to see here except an embarrassed woman o.O
*fans self* wow, Elissa! I had no idea you felt that way.
Really though, that’s the nicest comment!! I’m so glad you feel that way about my characters. I do love to stab them so. I mean…I love them. I’m glad you trust me. I don’t always trust me. (classic example of not practicing what I preach) But I’m going to put the best darn effort into serving the characters and the story as I write this book! (But my heroine NEVER kicked a puppy! For all her sins…never that.)
No, not everyone is deserving of a second chance at happiness at all. But, as Elissa so fabulously pointed out, we are talking about a story told withing the guidelines of Harlequin. In that case, then yes, absolutely anyone can be redeemed and even become a favourite character, if the writer can pull it off. There is very little a less than adequate writer can get away with, but a writer who knows her craft, believes in her characters and can simply tell a good story can get away with murder! Can a character who has actually committed murder win the hearts of the reader? Absolutely, IF the writer makes us believe so.
Really, what Elissa said is just about perfect. Keep pushing Maisey, your tortured characters MORE than deserve the fab HEA’s that you give them.
P.S. I’ve kicked a puppy once, but he bit me first. It was more or less reflex to get him off of my leg! Can’t I too be redeemed????
self defence is a valid argument! Nothing here that can’t be forgiven.
It can be less about what the character has done and more about the reasons they did it… their circumstances at the time, their beliefs, whether it was a knee-jerk reaction or something premeditated. Understanding someone’s bad decisions or hasty judgements can make all the difference. Empathy is very powerful, and when we feel it strongly we’ll forgive (a character) just about anything!
Why is that everyone else always says what I’m thinking but can’t manage to get out of my head?! Exactly what you said Robyn, exactly that.
And it means a lot to me to know that I’ve finally been forgiven for kicking Prince up the ass! Prince as in the dog who bit, not the tiny singer.
Damn! Here was I, hoping you meant the tiny singer ….
Jilly
LOL, Jilly, me too!
I don’t believe there is no possibility of redemption, no matter what a person has done in the past. But I do believe there are so crimes so dreadful that it’s unlikely the person could be redeemed. The sort of crimes where people would need to be so far gone into choosing evil to commit such a thing, they may not be able to grow and change away from that place.
But most badness, even murder, even something as dreadful as hurting a child, are almost accidental, a mistake. Nothing premeditated or deliberate. Or the person was faced with what seemed like all horrible choices and chose the best they could at the time.
None of us are perfect, we’ve all done bad things, made wrong choices, hurt people, whether deliberately or accidentally. I’d like to believe I’m still redeemable, despite all the mistakes I’ve made, that all the things I’ve done wrong are ultimately forgivable. (And no, in case you’re wondering I’m not a secret murderer or child molester, just everyday little wrongnesses.)
What is needed though is proof of change. As Elissa says, an “I’ve seen the light” epiphany and a quick grovel isn’t going to cut it. The character needs to earn their redemption. We need to see them grow and change and find that place of truth in themselves where they recognise their wrongs, make reparation, and turn away from being that way again. Only then will the reader believe they are worthy of the greatest love and understanding and forgiveness.
The person who can’t be redeemed is the person who does terrible things but is in denial about the wrongness- like the murderer who blames his victim.