We’re five days into NaNoWriMo. Have you written every day? Have you found your protagonist? Have you established conflict? Try this:

Today’s NaNoWriMo Exercise: Not All Bad, an Exercise in Character & Complexity

Write about a terrible deed from the point of view of someone who doesn’t find the deed objectionable. Why: literature, like life, is populated with characters who don’t see themselves as other see them. Just think of Hubmert Humbert, the infamous, silver-tongued hero/villain of Nabokov’s Lolita. One thing that makes the novel so fascinating is the fact that, despite Humbert’s villainy, we joyfully hang on for the ride; many readers come to empathize with him, even like him. In fiction, it is important to make even the most despicable characters complex. While their deeds may be objectionable, the reader should still feel the character’s humanity. Otherwise, the character becomes cartoonish, a kin of cardboard cut-out depicting evil. Your NaNoWriMo exercise for today is a study in making a bad guy who isn’t all bad.

This exercise is excerpted from Story Starters: A Workbook for Writers. Featuring a meaningful daily progression of craft-based and free-flow exercises, Story Starters is the ideal companion for NaNoWriMo and beyond.