Why So Serious?

This very question was put to me yesterday, when a certain WIP was making me want to stab my eyeballs out. It was a deep, dark, powerful, morbid story.

And so not my thing.

And my husband texted me "Why So Serious?"

I got to thinking about it. It must have hit me at just the right moment, because it made things click over in my brain.

Why was I being so dark and depressing, and, well, so damn serious in this story? After all, the character was not known for her serious demeanor, that's not why I fell in love with this character, and have been trying to write her story for a while now.

She wasn't serious.

I needed to remember that.

Because even the best, most suspenseful stories don't have to be serious all the time. Especially with smart-mouthed characters.

I had lost my character, in the object of building up her world, I forgot who she was, and she'd become way more serious than necessary.

So I found an old short I'd written about her and never published, and re-read it. While some of the minor details had changed, it was still a perfect representation of who the character was.

And I remembered.

While "Why So Serious" is a catch phrase from The Dark Knight, I have a feeling, it will wind up being her catch phrase too.

Thanks Hubby. :)