Valentine’s Day at the VA
The knee is already getting better. I can put weight on it, with a brace on, of course, and have been able to get off the painkillers they prescribed post-operation. However, along with the easing of pain come other issues. Firstly, I am losing my mind not being able to drive myself anywhere.
Before going out to drop off my taxes today, thrilling, I know. I spent valentines day at the VA with my wife for my post-op checkup. Although it was not the romantic day I was shooting for, we managed to make the best of it. With everything that has been going on lately, I guess it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that our valentines day would be unique.
As we sat and watched a movie together after the kids went to bed, the best I could do since I had to stay off my feet for too long, I chuckled and realized that without the injury, we wouldn’t have spent much time together. Without taking off work to run me to Wade Park VA, she would have had to work all day, then come home and spend time with the kids.
Neither one of us are into the sappy commercialism of the holiday. No generic flowers, candy, and cards for either one of us, but we like to try and do something special together on the day. We got one of the fifty date idea books we started working on earlier in the month. Doing something as simple as baking a pie together, one person blindfolded and doing the work while the other guides, was an absolute blast that made wonderful memories.
Instead of spending the day awkwardly trying to plan something because it was V day, we just hung out all day together. Our romantic dinner consisted of some McD’s we got on the way back from the hospital. Although it wasn’t everyone’s picture-perfect, romantic day, I have to say I don’t think I would have wanted it any different given the circumstances. We spent the day together, talking about everything we would do after I got back up and around. We got the luxury of simply enjoying each other’s presence without the pressures of the holiday weighing us down.
As a writer, I think a lesson can be learned from our unconventional valentines day. Trying to pigeonhole characters into the stereotypical behavior you believe they should be doing becomes tedious and comes across as cliché. From what I’ve seen, letting them grow organically and dealing with their circumstances according to their personality and character, not their role in the story, makes for a genuine story.
Although it would be perfectly acceptable for the hero of your story, a starship captain, to puff out his chest and attack an alien species upon first contact to save humanity, that may not be how he or she is wired. If you imagine them as not being naturally confrontational, an approach that simply dissuades the aliens feels more natural and moves the story in the same direction. A science-focused character may try to build relations with the aliens to learn about them, thus building rapport between species and preventing an attack on humanity.
On the surface, it seems like common sense to make your characters stay in character, but tropes exist for a reason. Under the pressures of writing, whether production deadlines or personal goals, I sometimes fall back on them to move my story along. However, reading back through after the pressure is gone, I find that the personality switch is far more jarring to the story than if I were to just create a unique solution that keeps the characters true to themselves.
In the exploration book I’m working on now, the main character is ex-military who was separated after he was accidentally bombed from orbit by friendly forces who were trying to indiscriminately destroy an enemy village. As he starts his life after the military, I’m finding that he is constantly thrust into situations that could be solved by the type-a, disciplined warrior, and I sometimes find myself tracking that way. However, when I stop and examine the story, I realize that a wounded veteran whom the military turned its back on is way more laid back, antiauthoritarian, and jaded by the idea of absolute right and wrong.
Instead of charging in, guns blazing because he is the hero, the character lies back, thinking through the problem. Having seen the outcome of indiscriminate violence, he is only willing to use it when absolutely necessary, choosing to just mind his own business when he can. Already having suffered an injury in the service of others, he isn’t one to blindly charge through the breech when told to do so, instead suspiciously examining those making the call to arms.
His business partner, and old company commander, is a staunch professional but left the military because he got burnt out on the nepotism and rigid thought structure. He, too, is not one to act stereotypically but for different reasons. The interactions between the two make the story unique. Stories, like life, should be driven by personalities, not archetypes, to make them unique.
Do you like reading comfortably familiar stories or prefer new stuff that keeps you guessing? Let me know in the comments.
ZD
