day 2: men, a character study

Men: they don’t say what they want or need, don’t say what they’re thinking unless you ask, and not even then sometimes. Instead, they just frump around acting all moody and sorry-for-themselves, because they expected you to read their mind, and then were disappointed when you couldn’t!

That was written out of frustration this morning (frustrated and kissed and made up), but I have to say, this pattern has held true for so many of the men I’ve known. Funny that my two-year-old, who also happens to be little man, has absolutely no problem telling me what he wants and needs. I wonder when it stops?

The most difficult character in my novel happens to be a man. (Danny and Hannah’s father, Nick) I don’t think he is my most difficult character because he is a man, but just because I don’t understand his motives. I think I understand the other men in my novel pretty well, even when they’re being stupid or immature or selfish or petty – I understand where it’s coming from, even if I wouldn’t act that way myself.

So what I’ve done is pushed him away (Nick). I divorced him from his wife, estranged him from his children. I made him as cryptic and unreachable to them as he is to me. Is that a cop-out? Will that work? It’s certainly made things a little more interesting. More complicated. It’s made them all a little sadder, which was needed, I think.

If he were a Sim, I would probably just kill him off, lol.

NaNoWriMo Stats: end of day 1

1274 words (plus a couple paragraphs in notes for a later chapter)

The scene I’ve been trying and trying to dig into this week is one between Danny and his father, so I hope I’m not stuck! Eeek, stuck on day two, lol 🙂