Lydia Bennet is a
problem character for both the reader and the writer. Because of her
troublesome and immature ways, readers just don’t like her. For the most parts, writers ignore her or
allow her to remain an antagonist in most tales. After all, who really wants to
spend too much time in Lydia’s head?
I certainly
didn’t. Nope, no thank you. Would much rather hang out with characters I
actually liked, especially considering writing a novel about would require at
least a year’s commitment to spend much quality time with these story-people.
Definitely not
going to write about Lydia Bennet.
The only way I
could write about her would be to find a way to see her genuinely reformed.
Hmmm, I wonder what that would take? What kind of people, what kind of environment
would it take to make a character like that really change from the inside out?
Probably a residential setting of some sort…a school probably. And some strong
female role models to demonstrate what true ladylike behavior looked like…
Oh, shoot, that sounds
an awful lot like a plot bunny.
A big, bad plot
bunny with teeth that insisted on settling into my office and sitting on my
desk with the cats. Stupid thing even made friends with the cats! The cats
taught it to purr. Enough! I’ll write the story already!
And thus, I have
taken The Trouble to Check Her.
Maria Grace
