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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29721
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29721
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

There is always a temptation to be didactic. At least, that is always a temptation for me. Having got your character into some sticky situation, there is a temptation to treat them as you would a child, to advise them on the sensible course of action that will get them out of the sticky situation with the least damage or loss. But novels are not about sensible behavior. They are, to one extent or another, about folly.

The cause of this folly is not usually foolishness, but passion -- the extreme attachment to some particular value -- that causes the character to choose folly over sense. The author needs to suppress their inner dad voice and focus on reportage rather than modeling good behavior. (Assuming their purpose is not to write a specifically didactic novel, of course.)

An autobiographical author can, of course, record their own descent into folly and its consequences. But they are only in a position to recognize their folly after the fact then they have grown more sensible. And this means that their autobiographical novel must necessarily be a confession of personal folly. No wonder there is a temptation to have the character behave more sensibly, since the author doubtless feels that the reader will see them in the character and will judge them.

To suppress the dad voice, and the apologetic self, I believe, you have to focus on the passion. What disordered (or perhaps laudable) passion drove the character into this situation? Their behavior will continue to be driven by this passion until the crisis, at least. The train is going to jump the track, the engineer's hand firm on the throttle to the end. You can't stop it without derailing your novel. You can only weep for it, and tell the tale in all its folly and pain and doom.

Original score: 8