So right now I'm working on a sci-fi novel with a friend of mine. We're hoping for it to be our love letter to sci-fi the way TSiaSoS is to Chris – but, you know, with less plagiarism, poor writing, and suckiness.
Right now we've run into a minor roadbump in regards to character development. Specifically, when we started writing, we made it a point that the main character was extremely adverse to copious amounts of blood and violence. This was because in their past, they had been through some traumatic experiences in their past which were extremely violent. As a result, the main character refuses to resort to violence unless severely agitated or in an extreme situation, and has a lot of trouble dealing with gore of any kind (a broken nose unnerves them, a nonlethal major wound would cause them to start panicking, and they would begin vomiting at a headshot).
However, during the middle of the book, the main character is forced to be trained in combat despite their aversion to violence. By the end of the novel, having overcome some of her physical and personal demons, the main character has become more willing to face their fears and their trauma, but still maintains an aversion to usage of violent force unless absolutely necessary.
It's the last part that's the problem. We want the character to evolve from someone who's nervous and wants no part in any conflict to someone who's willing to defend their friends and stand up for what they believe in. However, so far we can't figure out how to make that happen without completely sacrificing their earlier characterization. We want them to still maintain a connection to their earlier life, so how do we do that while still making the character able to solve her problems via force if necessary.
If you've got any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them. We've still got a long way to go before really becoming pro writers, so we'll take whatever critiques we can get.
Right now we've run into a minor roadbump in regards to character development. Specifically, when we started writing, we made it a point that the main character was extremely adverse to copious amounts of blood and violence. This was because in their past, they had been through some traumatic experiences in their past which were extremely violent. As a result, the main character refuses to resort to violence unless severely agitated or in an extreme situation, and has a lot of trouble dealing with gore of any kind (a broken nose unnerves them, a nonlethal major wound would cause them to start panicking, and they would begin vomiting at a headshot).
However, during the middle of the book, the main character is forced to be trained in combat despite their aversion to violence. By the end of the novel, having overcome some of her physical and personal demons, the main character has become more willing to face their fears and their trauma, but still maintains an aversion to usage of violent force unless absolutely necessary.
It's the last part that's the problem. We want the character to evolve from someone who's nervous and wants no part in any conflict to someone who's willing to defend their friends and stand up for what they believe in. However, so far we can't figure out how to make that happen without completely sacrificing their earlier characterization. We want them to still maintain a connection to their earlier life, so how do we do that while still making the character able to solve her problems via force if necessary.
If you've got any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them. We've still got a long way to go before really becoming pro writers, so we'll take whatever critiques we can get.