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Rhodenbarr mysteries are a blast . . . but his dark Matt Scudder mysteries are
brilliant. We first meet Matt Scudder as a heavy-drinking ex-cop who accidentally
shot and killed a kid while on duty, and who abandoned his family for a lot of sad
reasons. Over the course of many books, we watch Scudder grow up, come to terms
with the mistakes he s made in his life, quit drinking, find real love, and become
someone you want to know. He s always someone you care about. And he solves a
mean mystery, too.
No matter what genre you want to write in (or even if you want to write mainstream),
and no matter whether you re male or female, you owe it to yourself and to your
writing to read these books. The Spenser novels and the Matt Scudder novels have
something to teach you.
" Give your character some endearing qualities that make you want to visit
with him or her again and again.
Make your character idealistic. Give him a soft spot for kids or dogs. Give her a
passion for chocolate, or for rescuing the down-and-out. Create for him or her a
sheer joy in living that transcends the mire into which you are eventually going to
throw this poor shmuck. You have to like spending time with this person over the
years, you re going to be giving him or her as much of your time as you give to a
spouse, and more than you give to a best friend. Make sure you share some common
loves.
" Give your character serious problems that he or she can t resolve in one
book, or even ten.
Spenser deals with the mob and crime in Boston. Neither the mob nor Boston
criminals are going anywhere anytime soon. Spenser could live forever and still not
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MUGGING THE MUSE: WRITING FICTION FOR LOVE AND MONEY 200
run out of enemies to fight. Matt Scudder is dealing with New York s criminals.
Same story.
In a fantasy series, you ll have the rival wizards college, or the nightmare creatures
that live just over the border, or the poisoned magic that pours down from the North
Pole every winter. In a western series, you ll have the Civil War or the marauding
Indians or the encroaching Whites or the ever-present bandits (depending on how
historically accurate or politically correct you want to be). In a mainstream series set
against the backdrop of World War I, you have World War I.
In each instance, you have built into your universe a problem that is bigger than your
hero bigger than any hundred heroes that you could throw against it, or any
thousand.
Racial or territorial rivalries make good base problems, as do religious differences,
long-running wars, areas of great poverty butted up against areas of great wealth,
class struggles, historical enmity (a la the Montagues and Capulets in Romeo and
Juliet,) and so on. Make sure your series character has one of these base problems to
supply him with a long series of struggles, and you with a long series of books.
" Give him or her several real, deep character flaws.
With Matt Scudder, it was the drinking for a long time. With Spenser, it s a blend of
bull-headedness and an impetuous streak, combined with delusions of immortality.
Your character can t be perfect or you re going to start hating him. We all hate the
perfect somewhere deep inside. He can t be a god. He has to be a human, and
complex, real humans have complex, real flaws.
" Give your character a few friends as interesting as he is, and as deep.
I admit to wanting to kill Susan Silverman, Spenser s long-time girlfriend/lover/live-
in companion. She is such a shallow bitch. I want to see him find a real woman, and
I know he never will, and that s sad. Spenser s other main friend, Hawk, however,
always interests me. He s always deeper than he seems, always knows more than you
think he does, always surprises. Hawk is a great series character.
When you re developing your own series, give as much thought to the people your
main character hangs out with and struggles with as you do to him. Don t just give
them a hair color, and eye color, and an interesting twitch or two that they exhibit
under pressure. Make them real.
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MUGGING THE MUSE: WRITING FICTION FOR LOVE AND MONEY 201
" Give your character an interesting line of work, something that you won t
mind knowing as well as you know your own.
Whatever your character does is going to become your second job, with luck for a
whole lot of years. If you don t give a damn about police work, you d better not
make your main character a cop. If you aren t interested in the military, don t make
her a soldier. If you hate horses, avoid both the racetrack and the cavalry.
Give this some real thought. As much thought as you put into becoming a writer.
. . . Maybe more.
" Make sure your character s principle locale interests you.
What goes for work goes twice for locale. You re going to need something fairly big
a whole town that you ve developed with tremendous depth will do, but a city is
better. A county or small country would be better yet. An entire planet will give you
the most latitude, and the most opportunity to avoid boredom. You need to set up any
globetrotting tendencies from the start, though.
" Give your character a deep, fascinating history.
There s nothing like a checkered past for giving the writer an opportunity to
introduce lost loves in distress, illegitimate children in need, old enemies gone but
never forgotten, and little skills that come in handy in a pinch. Establish at least the
bones of your character s past in your first book, and mine that past faithfully and
deeply for real gems in future books.
" Give your character at least one really good, long-term enemy someone who
will stay to the background and survive for years. Someone your hero needs
somehow.
Ideally, this will be some sort of enemy he s made in the past, one who has the goods
on him in some way, or who has something he needs, or who has access to special
skills he can t acquire in any other way. This enemy won t be the villain of your
individual books, but will be a shadowy presence, threatening from the distance.
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MUGGING THE MUSE: WRITING FICTION FOR LOVE AND MONEY 202
" Give your character a theme.
Spenser is the slightly battered white knight, rescuing the helpless. Matt Scudder is
the fierce and wounded avenger of the unjustly dead. Your character needs to have a
reason for going on, a reason for doing what he or she does long after any normal
person would throw up hands and say, Enough, already. I m getting a job at the
Quickie Mart. This reason, this compelling urge forward in the face of
insurmountable odds, is your character s theme . . . and may well be one of your own.
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