What about me? A Character's Gripe

What about me? A Character’s Gripe

Hello, you may know me from the Burning Love series here on Knight Chills.  I’m Candy, today’s guest blogger.  

If you’re not familiar with my ongoing story, I was just a normal young woman looking for love.  I thought I found it with a man named Sam.  The fact he turned out to be a professional hit-man didn’t sway me away from him.  In fact, he trained me how to be a killer, only I can’t take innocent lives.  Yes, I’ve had the misfortune of killing a couple of men, but they deserved it.  They were bad guys.  

So you may be wondering what brings me to guest blog for Nomar.  Well, like all women, I deserve attention.  The talented Mr. Knight has a severe case of Attention Deficit Disorder and I’m the latest victim of his chaotic mind.  Instead of revealing to you wonderful readers my troubles, he’s gone off in a constant state of depression.  Oh don’t worry, he’s not suicidal or anything, it’s just that an angel of depression has his ear.  The fascinating supernatural creature has my favorite writer entombed in a world where Darkness Roams.  

Okay, I admit the angel has an extraordinary existence, but damn it, my story came first.  (Takes a moment to breathe and change my pouting lips into a tight smile).

Anyway, I need your help.  I want Nomar to at least write a couple more episodes of my story and soon.  But I’m afraid he thinks no one cares.  He knows there are at least two fans of mine… Thank you Awilda and Mary, you guys rock!  However, Nomar feels that Oscuro, the fallen angel, needs to be appeased.  Please leave comments in this post, encouraging him to continue telling my story.  If you don’t…I’m afraid I’ll disappear into the land of forgotten characters.  I can’t go there.  I’m too beautiful, athletic, and just plain hot.  Plus, don’t you guys want to see if I can finally get away from Sam? If I end up running off with my newest lover, Lucas?  

Please, I need your help.  

NOMAR! COME OUT OF THE DARKNESS FOR A LITTLE WHILE AND WRITE MY STORY!

If you don’t, I’ll have to come looking for you.

Your sweet-killer gal,

xxx

Candy

Shattering a Paradigm: Creating a Bad Good Guy

Since the beginning of time, the devil's minions hide in plain sight, chameleons of faith, and executioners of hope. - The Book of Tortured Souls, Nomar Knight


Watch out for the bad good guy! Sometimes it’s difficult to discern bad guys from good. In real life the identities aren’t always clear. It may be a trusted servant who turns against his master by torturing what’s most precious to him—his child. Perhaps a popular teacher, who’s entrusted with educating children so their trek into the world of academia could be smooth, goes beyond the call of duty and educates the student by crossing boundaries which may lead them both into moral dilemmas.

One of the most horrifying antagonists is the chameleon of faith that hides in plain sight. No, he doesn’t lurk in the shadows waiting for an opportunity to strike. He befriends his victims, constantly painting himself as the good guy who exudes righteousness, making him the envy of all unsatisfied with their own imperfections. Priests or men and women of the cloth were considered people who sacrificed personal comforts in order to serve others. Most perform their jobs well and maintain their authentic good guy status, but a few undermine the fabric of the prestigious position. So while it may be common place to hear about charges being filed against a Catholic priest or a pastor who got caught soliciting or performing “special services” deemed by their own religion as unacceptable moral behavior, fiction may illuminate the few infractions and cast an illusion that they are all enemies of society. Such a false assumption can leave many to brood about in the dark halls of ignorance.

What are sinners to think if their leaders fall to temptations of the flesh? The mere acts of betrayal to all they preach serve to remind their flock how week humans are. The power of temptation can bring the strongest of the faithful down to their knees, but not necessarily in prayer. The vulnerability of falling to the enemy can put a damper on hope.

Real life horror sometimes serves to inspire fiction. Writers enjoy tantalizing readers by mixing true events with unbelievable possibilities which may go beyond entertainment. Keep them guessing is a great formula for spinning a yarn. Another technique which may entertain is the art of illusion. It’s fun to lead readers to a logical conclusion and then pull the rug out from under them. Ah but one must be careful, for writers should not punch holes through their hypnotic bubble. Instead, they should try and immerse their readers into the worlds they create so when authors make the giant elephant disappear, readers may accept the twisty outcome as something amazing, yet wonderful and plausible for that specific world of fiction.

Betrayal of the most sacred kind when used properly in horror, may add an emotional dimension your characters can draw on to pack a powerful, realistic punch.

See you on the dark side.

Nomar Knight

Villains Needed

Society cultivates its monsters. With its tongue it calls for equality but with its hands it shackles aspirations, condemning itself to a world where darkness rules. – The Book of Tortured Souls, Nomar Knight

What’s in a villain? One need not look far to create a suitable bad guy. I enjoy stories where the villain is created out of necessity. Opposing forces must collide in order to wreak havoc with the protagonist’s simplicity. Conflict when created as a natural result of the action is worth digging into. Take Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. A man’s need to prolong life became warped when he decided to take the place of the Creator himself and create life from dead body parts. Man’s need to live forever cultivated the monster known as Victor Frankenstein. He in turn built a monster that has lived throughout literature.

Not all writers will be able to create such brilliant characters but if we search within society, magnificent characters await, itching for us to tell their tale. There are many things happening around us every day, some of it contributing to real horror. All we have to do is keep our eyes open and our minds receptive to uncovering the madness that sits within our reach.

Science has been advancing at an alarming rate and with its advancements come the promise of a new world. Well, imagine a new world laced with opposite characters that must naturally fight each other to succeed? Ask yourself, what scares you about society? Wouldn’t you want to change how people behave? For centuries madmen delved in unique ways to control mankind only to fall short of their insane aspirations.

Search your surroundings hard enough and eventually a hero will be born. Keep searching and be amazed as the hero’s opposite will emerge, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself sympathizing with the bad guy. Villains can be magnanimous and therefore alluring. Villains can take over a story and become more powerful than the protagonist. It happened to Batman as I sat and watched the Joker become bigger than life. More importantly as he forced society to rethink the delicate fabric it lived by. Now that’s a villain worth meeting, but only in fiction.

Nomar Knight

The Birth of a Psycho

Dictionary.com defines psychosis as a mental disorder characterized by symptoms, such as delusions or hallucinations that indicate impaired contact with reality; any severe form of mental disorder, as schizophrenia or paranoia.

It defines dementia as deterioration of intellectual faculties, such as memory, concentration, and judgment, resulting from an organic disease or a disorder of the brain. It is sometimes accompanied by emotional disturbance and personality changes; madness; insanity.

I find psychotic characters fascinating to write about because almost always, horrendous circumstances tend to push innocent children into becoming monsters. The notion that personal experiences shape who we are brings to light the possibility of psychotic individuals who pose a real danger to society. Weather through witnessing unspeakable acts or experiencing harsh physical or emotional distress, at the core of all evil is a trigger mechanism which propels forward an evolution of psychos hell-bent on fulfilling an urgent need deep within their dark hearts.

Hence, through the presentation of familiar settings a writer may utilize tools which show a young ordinary character experience vicious or malicious acts therefore changing him into everyone’s worst nightmare. In the micro fiction piece, The Bone Collector, written by W.D. Wilcox, a hard-nosed youngster becomes fascinated with the inner workings of animals. His hobby of performing outrageous surgical skinning of innocent strays; leads him to discover other uses for his rare talent. The revelation of physical and emotional abuse by his uncle along with insightful clues to his relationship with the story’s narrator, his best and only friend, gives real plausibility to the creation of something monstrous among us, something yet undetected by the larger population.

Wilcox’s engaging narrative and mastery of imagery makes him one of my favorite authors at writing.com. His ability to make ordinary events and twist them into frightening action will raise anyone’s blood pressure and leave the connoisseur of horror with a smile.

Here’s a small sampling of “The Bone Collector:”

Harley held a black garbage bag. I knew what was in it, and the thought made my stomach churn again. “Geez, Harley, you scared the hell out of me.” He grabbed hold of the front of my shirt, stuck his face close to mine; I could see the sweat beading off his scalp and running down his face in rivulets, leaving clean, clear tracks across his dirty fat cheeks.

“Follow me, sissy, we’ve got some unfinished business to take care of.”

“Sure, Harley, sure.” I was trapped again. Harley knew I’d do anything he said just to keep from getting clobbered, or worse. He was a bad kid, real bad, and in his sick desire to collect bones, I was his number one helper.

Harley kept all kinds of bones: birds, rats, squirrels, a cat, and now a dog. I reluctantly followed him to his house, an old run-down shack he lived in with his uncle -- Uncle Jack, he called him. Harley said his uncle drank all the time and then would beat him for no real reason. Once he even told me his uncle did some other stuff to him too -- real bad stuff. I guess Harley was really screwed up, but I don’t think anybody knew how bad it was except me. I made the mistake of feeling sorry for him. He saw that as a weakness in me and took advantage of it. I became his flunky -- his whipping boy -- his only friend.