All writers are human, or we claim to be, so we try and write characters who are human or have a semblance of human emotions, or how will a reader identify with them? I doubt if there is a human who has not experienced all the sins at some stage in their lives, even if it is only envying their sister for her curly hair when theirs is is poker straight, and vice versa. I’m not sure if there is a sin that covers that contrary human thing of of perversely wanting that trait that you don’t possess, but a lot of people are not giving up on their hair straighteners any time soon. Isn’t technology wonderful?
But the thing that struck me from my reading this week, and inspired this post, was how often what might be called the sin of pride is the king pin of a lot of romance writing, and crime too. Not in an overt way, but as the underlying force for keeping secrets, saving face, not wanting to be patronised, the object of pity, to look to be lacking in some way. How often has the heroine in the romantic suspense insisted that she can stand on her own two feet, the hero retreated from an instance when he judged himself to have failed in some way, with consequences that stretch across the book?
Secrets are the life blood of romantic suspense, and pride and self worth are a great motive for having them and keeping them. Having had the thought, I’m going to be watching my own work, looking for times when my characters are letting a variation of pride motivate them. I suspect it might be more often that I expect.