You got character

Well after the short holiday hiatus, (hope you had a Happy Easter BTW) I am back with another
edition of 'Run: Side by Side'.

This section of 'Run' I wrote in my mind going all the way to last week but as I put finger to word processor today I decided to build on what I already planned to write. Whilst this section was about Issac's change of heart it ended up being an introduction to a new character.

Like how I decided that Mr. Baldini was not your typical crime boss, I had a conscious idea to make the 'snitch' not a typical character as well. I wanted to build on an idea that good people can do bad things, depending on the situation or their situation. I wanted to make the character of Brett Saunders as three dimensional as possible.

I hope you, the reader feel a bit conflicted in regards to him. Sure he is doing a bad thing by working with the Baldini but he knows it and he wrestles with his conscience about it. I gave you the cliff notes of his situation. His father died and left with a considerable amount of debt that he needs to repay. His wife left him as well. He is a dark place and he needs a way out and Mr. Baldini has provided him with that, at the cost of his conscience and soul.

I hoped this worked and you actually feel conflicted. If so, then my job as a writer is partial completed.

In all honesty if I just made him a typical, I am doing it for the money type of person and doing it for selfish reasons I felt like I would be doing you a dis-service. I want to give you a story where the characters are believable, realistic and human.

'Side by Side' is also a behind the scenes blog as well so I am going to share with you something I had planned but decided not to run with. Originally Brett was going to pick up the call that Issac made. For me, this could have save a lot of addition exposition but to me it just felt fake. Out of all people Issac called, it had to be Brett? I did not like that, it felt too 'staged' for my taste so that is why I took it out and re-wrote the scene you just read. I want 'Run' to be as realistic as possible, from the characters and their motives to the actual story it-self.

Now the questions you should be asking yourself

• Who is the target? Why was Issac all determined to go through with it and suddenly had a change of heart? What brought this about?
• Issac only hesitated for a moment before he made his tip but did he really gave it as much thought as it deserved? Is he really ready for the consequences of not doing what Baldini wanted?

Stay tuned, you have not seen nothing yet.

pP