When I’m writing, I sometimes find myself forming that same attachment. Somewhere along the line, I stop feeling like I’m steering the story and more like I’m watching it unfold. Characters start to act as if they have their own wills, their own stubborn ways of surprising me. I’ll admit it — I play favourites.
The hardest part? Wanting to protect them. To give them the win. To hand over the happy ending. But stories — like life — don’t work that way. An unbeatable character would be flat, uninteresting. Aliens, one of my favourite films, wouldn’t be the same if Ripley was an invincible super-soldier. What makes her unforgettable is the fear, the struggle, the fact that she risked everything to protect others despite the terror clawing at her. Her grit and vulnerability are what make us care.
That’s why, as painful as it can be, our characters need to suffer. They need to lose. They need to face the dark before they earn the light. It’s what makes their victories matter — and what makes us love them all the more.
I won’t pretend I find it easy. Sometimes it feels cruel. But without adversity, there’s no growth. Without loss, there’s no real triumph.
How do you feel about this as a reader — or as a writer, if you are one? Do you struggle with letting your characters suffer? Or do you find it easier to put them through the fire, knowing it’ll forge them into something stronger?