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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/35058
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I've changed a secondary character into a murderer, and it changes everything. This change also opposes my core philosophies, that life and art should strive to reach something higher - not something more base. I don't want gratuitous anything.

I made the change, because it can be undone and I think there is value in exploring a bunch of different possible paths. And - Now - I recognize that this change 'works.' It hypes up the scene, pulls into past scenes, plays into future scenes.

And now, I wonder philosophically what it means to represent something reprehensible (like cavalier murder) in fiction. Can a good character be a murderer? What does it say about humanity if we want to read 'that kind of struggle?' A character stewing over the people he killed years ago? Are we all murderers at heart?

My (secondary) character is remorseful and lives an exemplary life. But come on - if my neighbor killed two politicians years ago, I don't care that he is a good guy now. He broke the freakin law. Report him! Haul him off! In other words, real life and literature are quite different beasts.

Surely the reasons for the disparity between fiction and life are understood? Can you give me peace about writing a sympathetic murderer?

**Question: Why do bad characters sell, and does this ultimately serve base instincts or higher instincts?**

A good answer will draw from either respected works, or will reflect considered thought about why so much of popular writing is driven by the darker side of humanity.

Original score: 7