Fiction Friction

 

            I haven’t written much this week. I don’t have writer’s block. I know exactly what I need to write and I don’t want to go there. Last week I wrote a storyline in which my new favorite character Karen sleeps with her boyfriend Henry. The timing was right. The poor girl had been through so much and needed some comfort—a moment of joy in a tough life.

            But now I have this fear. Remember how the sitcom “Cheers” turned lame after Sam and Diane slept together? The writers kept introducing new characters to make things interesting. Same thing with “Moonlighting”. That show was great until Maddie and David “did the deed”, then it sank like a stone. Sexual tension creates humor and drama. What have I done? What have they done?

            Here’s the other thing. Karen was born after an interaction I had with an unpleasant customer. I started writing about what led this person to become the grumpy older woman who reported me to a manager. The more I delved into her past, the more I liked her. Karen’s story starts with a childhood in which she faces many trials, but she keeps on going. Pour on the heartache and she’ll work hard to get past it. But we know it doesn’t go on forever. Right? The very first pieceI wrote about Karen was a Christmas dinner she shares with her neighbor in the elderly housing complex. We know this doesn’t happen if she has a country club wedding with Henry. We know something dark has to happen soon.

Damn. I really wanted her to be happy.