To late in my case. I fell in love with some of my characters. But this doesn't in any way prevent me from harming them. Though I do refuse to kill them off until I feel its right. Most of the characters I 'love' are the ones I see using in multiple books and story lines. But doesn't mean I wont beat the crap out of them and ultimately steal everyone they love away from them. Also although they may be a part of my imagination and it may be silly to love them, I find it also drives me to continue their story. To continue writing about them. Wait. How can you disrespect something thats not real? Sorry I just found it amusing that you were trying to put across this image that they are no way real and that they are just part of your imagination. Then you go on to talk about respecting them and giving them freedom. But anyways. You are right though(as you seem to always be) you need to hurt, maim and give your character troubles. Thats what they are ultimately there for. well you know
"To late in my case. I fell in love with some of my characters." Unit7 Same here--if I didn't love my characters on some level, I would be too apathetic to write about them. Hurts like crazy when I have to kill them or let them die, though. I'm completely cool doing anything else, but when they die I always get really choked up. It's a selfish kind of grief, really. Maybe as a reader I don't care so much about their pain as much as I care about enjoying them, and now they're dead so I can't enjoy them anymore. Never mind that I'm the one who had them die to begin. XD
No no, the hand thing in Star Wars works perfectly. The robot hand is a symbol and constant reminder for Luke, that he may end up like his father. The hand possibly even saves him as he realises the connection, after he cuts Vaders hand off in Jedi. It's when he sees Vader's severed mechanical hand and then looks at his own, he trows down his saber and refuses to fight any more. So this is not suffering used as a cheap plea for sympathy from the audience (which I think is a pathetic thing to do as a writer), but rather the suffering that becomes a saving grace. Epic. Wagnerian.
You pretty much have to hurt your characters emotionally, to generate real conflict. As for physical injury, that is less meaningful, unless it advances the plot in some way, or it's just the natural consequence of a certain action. (that is, engaging in a violent struggle, and emerging unscathed might be unrealistic) Let's say a hideous, malformed dwarf loses his nose in a battle. Now he's even more hideous. What does that do for his social standing? Is it the final straw for him? Or. . one of the finest swordsmen in the world loses his sword hand. What does he do now? Is he forced to reassess his life? Does he weep for the wasted years of just being a 'sword hand,' a living tool for those with power? Does he just switch to the left, training brutally for years until he's even better than he ever was with the right? Those injuries are meaningful. . . They are part of the story. Physically hurting your MC without good reason would be pointless.
An injury defines a subplot. It introduces a new obstacle that a character has to overcome to achieve an existing goal. Something as simple as a bad cold can disorient a character, make her tired and prone to mistakes.
