Embarrassment Freaks Me Out

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I hate when people get embarrassed. Seriously, I can’t handle it. I I’m not sure exactly why–but if I see someone in a particularly uncomfortable situation, my whole body hurts for them. I dislike it so very much that I have trouble spelling the word. It’s pretty much the only thing I have to look up every time I want to write it–and I avoid it just so I don’t get it wrong.

Even if it’s just television, I still get all stress-freaked and change the channel. Yeah, I am seriously that big of a dork. The thing is, I don’t really mind being embarrassed all that much. I am totally one of those attention seeking types, and I’ll take it however I can get it–but if it’s a stranger, (or worse–someone I actually know) I want to rescue them.

So, here’s the problem… I have trouble putting my characters in embarrassing situations. And, when I do finally put them in one, I rush it up to get it over with so they can go back to their normal, non-embarrassing situations. No one likes to see their characters hurt–even though that’s many times what makes a great book.

So, today I vow to revel in those moments. My heart might break a little for them, but that’s okay–because my characters are strong enough to get past it.

What about you? What situations do you avoid in your writing? And, what are you going to do to fix it?

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7 Comments

  1. I hate romantic scenes – they make me squirm. They make me squirm in real life, too, so that’s probably why! LOL!

    How will I deal with it? Um… So far, I’ve done it by not working much on my YA and writing tons of PBs and chapter books. 🙂 I know I’ll have to get to it eventually, though. Ugh…

  2. I cannot deal with watching something embarrassing happen to someone else. I have to refrain from throwing my arms protectively in front of the person and shouting “Stop looking at them!” to anyone nearby, because it would, in turn, cause more embarrassment. If it’s me? Big deal! Drama school teaches you to accept and embrace that kind of thing.

    Also, I too have to look up “embarrassment” whenever I want to use it. What is it about that word?

  3. I get stressed out when I see someone make a bad choices that puts them in a bad situation. Even if it’s supposed to be funny, like I Love Lucy…So NOT funny to me.

    So I try to have smart characters that have unavoidable, beyond their control bad things happen to them. I mean, the stories need conflict…but I hate to have it come about by MC making an obviously bad decision.

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