Line in the Sand

I had an interesting conference call with my writers' group last night, in between hacking up a lung (I have a nasty cold). About the line in the sand. The line between a character who is curious, and one who is Too Stupid To Live (TSTL). The line between sympathetic . . . and doormat. Between feisty and obnoxious. Writers all walk the line.

An example? I don't know if there are any devoted Law & Order fans who read this blog. But I watch them all in re-runs, sometimes when I am knitting, or too mentally exhausted to read. And my best friend watches them, too. And neither of us can abide the new redheaded partner of Chris Noth. In fact, I hate this character so much, that not only do I not know her name, but if I even SEE her obnoxious little freckled-face on my screen, I take it as a sign I really should be reading the physics book on my bedside table and not wasting time watching TV. I turn it off. The producers have seriously miscalculated, I think, and my friend and I both love the show.

In my current work in progress, I have a very inner character. She has been wounded by tragedy, by her childhood. And I know I walk the line between realisitcally representing someone hurt by life . . . and her being a doormat.

I have, in that same work in progress, a mean character, someone who does something so awful. And I walk the line between her just being horrid . . . and her being a cariacature. I was very relieved last night when one of my group members said, "I hate her, but I think I'm in her head enough to understand what her motivation is. Why she does this." And maybe, I decided, that's what we need to express as writers. The motivation.

In my second Billie Quinn book, Billie goes into a house where her father may or may not be trapped with a serial killer. Billie is not stupid. She HAD a cop with her, and they COULD have waited for backup, but I thought it was a completely realistic motivation for her to race in to save someone she loved. Versus, say, a slasher flick, where a TSTL character, usually in a low-cut shirt and no bra, or better yet, a nightie, will go exploring the house with the serial killer in it, USUALLY without turning on the lights.

As an editor, I expend a great deal of red ink writing "WHY?!?!?!?!" in the margins of manuscripts. Readers will forgive a lot for a motivation we understand. PLOT should not drive your characters' decisions, MOTIVATION should. Then we are willing to walk that line in the sand with you. There is a big difference between the two.

Going back to the redhead? Part of what I can't abide are characters who are uniformly nasty to everyone, who walk around with a chip on the shoulder. I won't abide it for 60 minutes of a TV show, for two hours of a movie, for 300 pages of a book. I might forgive it if I understand why. But just plunk her into a favorite show and have her behave that way? Nope.

So tell me . . . do you find yourself tweaking your characters to manipulate the motivation, to make their line in the sand clearer? Are there types of characters you can't abide? Thoughts on motivation versus plot? Do you walk a line in the sand?