#WordWeavers 2.2 — Do you enjoy writing good, bad, or morally gray characters more? Why?
Let me share something from my own hashtag with my answer. It fits this prompt perfectly. 👌🏻
“As a writer, what is your favorite sort of character to write?”
This stems from a conversation. My girlfriend asked me this question the other night and I apparently gave her the answer she wasn’t necessarily seeking but already knew.
Give me a morally gray character. That’s my bread and butter. Now give me a morally gray character who’s more bad than good (or has a bit more evil in them than the good sort of righteousness) and now we’re cooking with gas.
I never write characters who have always just been “good guy” heroes and always will be. That’s boring. It’s blah. Give me pizzazz. I’d also never write a villain who’s evil without having a very good reason for it. Again, boring. Add substance, add flavor, and the story is better off.
My characters tap-dance on the line of being a hero and a bastard. One moment, they’re a good guy, and in the next, they’re a complete arsehole. (Or a douche canoe, as my girl said.)
From an array of my characters like the Doctor (Doctor Who, not mine but still), Alistair MacKay and Fenella (Wings of Quiet Longing), Father Kenneth Sweeney (The Final Rite), to Dr. Arcturius “Dante” Cason and Alexios “Ghost” Jace (The City of Opulence, Digital Dystopia Series), they’re all morally questionable MCs but good at heart in spite of it all.