Debbie

Hey-o! It's midweek time, which means we're going to jump right into...

The Debbie Downer

Yeah, yeah, she's not an amazingly fun character to write, but she can be a great literary tool to move your story forward. If you haven't used her before, try it. She's a great way to state the obvious, in case you feel your reader needs to be outright told what's going on.

As per usual, two things to keep in mine while writing the Debbie Downer:

1. Grim Reaper

Generally, I refer to my downers as either Debbies or Grims. Why? Because that's what they usually are! They're the angel of death, the person who seems to be literally followed by bad things. And they tend to want to stick with the protagonist, because the protagonist is the one person who might be able to help them.

But the thing to remember with Grim Reapers is that though they're constantly followed by bad things, though they're really downers and they're quite depressing to spend too much time with, they're also people. This is something that I say with every single type of character there is, but really, you need to give your downers some life. Show us how life really is for the Debbies and Grims out there, and allow your protagonist to be the one to show them how good things can be.

2. No "Up" Days

This one is really personal preference, but I try not to give my downers good days. By which I don't mean that no good things ever happen to them. It's just that they have a good day and they see the bad day right around the corner, so they choose not to celebrate. It makes for a very interesting character, and one who makes a good sidekick to the usual extroverted fancy of the protagonist.

Of course, downers also make amazing protagonists, if you can stomach being with them for that long, and helping them get back up to the top. After all, what goes down doesn't always come up.


[love and hugs for the downers]

{Rani Divine}