Camp NaNoWriMo - Day 3, or: That Time I Didn't Write Anything Last Night, So I Talk Off-Topic

But fear not, dear reader! I am not resorting to my old procrastinating ways.

Focus is one of my biggest problems when writing, and last night was sort of rough emotionally. I won't go into it because a) I don't want to, and b) you don't care, and I like that you don't care. The point is that it completely destroyed my ability to focus for the evening, because once the stressful event was over, it was close enough to bedtime that the creative side of my brain was shut down anyway.

Because of this, today I am going to attempt to write double my daily wordcount goal! We shall see how this pans out when I actually attempt it, but I remain optimistic.

I am still going to talk about writing, though; in particular, one specific problem about writing that has been infuriating me of late. It doesn't directly relate to my novel, but it is something that I keep in mind at all times, because (have I already said this? I think I have) I despise being a hypocrite: i.e. hating something that someone else does in writing and then turning around and doing it myself.

My issue is something I have noticed of late on a soap opera that I used to watch quite regularly. Soap operas and novels are two entirely different beasts (having written both of them I know this well-- I created my own soap for my senior project in high school) but a few facets of character creation remain quite similar across the board.

• A character's history influences his or her personality. 
• His or her personality influences their decision-making process. 
• Fully-fleshed out characters are easier for the audience to connect with and care about than empty shells-- to be invested, we as either viewers or readers must have something in which to invest. 

The problem that has been bothering me lately, however, is not character creation, but character destruction. In particular, character destruction to serve the purposes of a romantic storyline.

To use the example that has been frustrating me the most lately, on a soap that I watch Girl A is in a relationship with Boy. When Girl A first came onto the show back in September of 2010, she was fiesty and stood up for herself without questioning any potential danger; she was a character women could be proud to see on television. She fought for what she believed in and who she cared about. Not everyone liked her, and I don't think that everyone had to; I know what it is like to despise characters other people love, so I'm certainly not going to force my character-love on other people.

But the point is that she had merit. She had strength of will, she had agency, and most of all her life did not revolve around a man. (Her storyline did, because Boy dragged her into lots of stuff-- well, more accurately, she dragged herself into it because she was trying to help Boy. But she made it clear that he was not the center of her universe.) She had ideals that she stood for, people that she cared about, and a solid personality.

In the past month or so, I have seen Girl A devolve into a clinging, whiny shrew who will do anything to hold on to her man, including throwing Girl B under the bus at any opportunity. She has been taken from a strong, argumentative woman who believed in herself to a lying, manipulative shell of her former character. That strength of will is only shown now when she is determined to do whatever it takes to keep Boy interested in her instead of going back to Girl B, his former lover, ex-wife, and mother of his children (a pairing that is wildly popular on this show and one that I confess to loving).

Let me be clear: I have no problem with Girl B and Boy getting back together. This is not a case of "Hannah isn't getting the ship that she wants, so she is going to whine". This is a case of Girl A's character being completely changed in order to serve the purposes of the writer, who wants to put Girl B and Boy back together at any cost.

I have absolutely no respect for a writer who feels the need to utterly destroy a character to get them out of the way for the romantic reunion of two other characters. If the romantic relationship between Girl B and Boy is strong enough, in my opinion the destruction of the other character is unnecessary. And guess what?

It is.

The storyline that I have heard Girl B and Boy have right now (because I have stopped watching lately) is one that could draw them back together and leave Girl A out in the cold even while keeping her character intact. Her destruction is, to me, a mark of laziness on the part of a writer who wants to make fans hate her and get her out of the way as quickly as possible.

The majority of my vehemence comes from frustration, yes. If I didn't like Girl A, I would still be annoyed by this but perhaps not as worked up about it. But there is a time for devolving a character to serve a storyline, and I simply don't think that a romantic reunion storyline that could have happened without said character destruction is that time. To me, consistency is key, and while character development is without question a good thing, when a particular development is self-serving, is it really necessary?

Feel free to disagree; I won't be offended, and in fact I'm interested to hear if others have a different opinion than myself on the subject. I like being able to look at things like this from various angles.