The Malignancy, at heart, is a story about a teenage boy struggling with his troubled past. The rationale for my decision to have a teenage protagonist is basic and lackluster. I figured I could have lots of characters and I could add backstories to them and even some depth, but for my first book, I would need to have a white teenage boy as the protagonist. When you are starting out, I think it is best to just write what you know. That’s not to say that Ashton is me. He is most certainly not. Yet I’m sure that the people who know me would see similarities between Ashton and me. It became especially hard to separate myself from Ashton in certain places, partially because I wrote in the first person POV. I’m not thrilled about that decision, by the way. I strongly believe that the third person perspective is immensely superior, yet my laziness prevented me from changing the first third of the manuscript. Besides, I guess there are some benefits to a single-character driven story like The Malignancy. So it works quite well in the end, I think. There’s just a danger of putting too much of yourself into the character.
I don’t want to give any spoilers, and that’s what makes this post so difficult. Yet, I will say that the key to developing a well-rounded character is having something to go back to time and time again. In the case of The Malignancy, I did it so that Ashton suffered a family tragedy that makes him resent himself. The readers learn more and more about this tragedy and Ashton’s role in it as the story progresses. This provides a constant source of internal conflict for Ashton and it keeps things interesting. You can really dig into those memories, like I did, and just exploit them for an easy way to create a dynamic character. As the story goes on, you can layer more moral and emotional dilemmas and missteps to further enhance that internal tension. Essentially, give your protagonist a hard time. That’s what I did, anyway.
In terms of personality, I made Ashton introspective and sarcastic. Hopefully, he is likeable. He does some questionable things, and he has a lot of regrets, but the intent was to make the readers root for him. In the end, I regard Ashton as a deeply flawed and tragic figure that tries his best to be a good person. Morally grey, not morally black.
In The Malignancy, I didn’t worry too much about exposition. I wove knowledge of Ashton and his big tragedy throughout the story, rather than dumping it all at the beginning, as I had done in the manuscript. In my opinion,having a swift, action-packed start will have better success at hooking readers in than trying to do a slow burn. It’s true that I like slow burns, but unless you are already famous, then you need a fast pace at the start. Otherwise you might have a hard time finding people that will finish your book. That’s what I think, anyway.
How did I choose his name? I asked my mom. Seriously. Don’t get all hung up on the name. I mean it’s cool to choose a name with symbolism, and I think I will next time. But for The Malignancy, I just asked my mom off-the-cuff on a snowy Sunday morning last winter. I don’t know for sure why she came up with Ashton, but I suspect it’s because she has a mild crush on Ashton Kutcher.
Thanks for reading!
Liam | Blogs on writing |
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