Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Bug says again...

The guy from the climbing forum, Bug, gave me this quote:

If you convince a man that you are right, he will likely believe that he is wrong. -Anandar Coomaraswamy

But will a man who believes he's wrong admit to being wrong? That's what I want to know.

Some men have no problem admitting they are wrong. Others no way. Women have a problem with this, too, so it's not gender-specific. What about you? Do you admit when you're wrong or not? I have no problem telling the kidlets that "Mommy was wrong" because I think it's important for them to learn to admit when they are wrong.

If you've read any of my books, there usually comes a point in the story when the hero realizes he's been wrong and admits to being one or more of the following:
1) a hypocrite
2) an idiot
3) a jerk
4) mistaken
5) misguided

Does this make my heroes girly men? No way. At least not when it comes to saying they were wrong. (I'm working on all other occasional hero girly lapses in regards to internalization and dialogue!) It's a way to show character growth. I have the heroine admit to one of the above, too, in case you were wondering.

Characters are flawed individuals. Otherwise they'd be boring to read about. They must overcome their flaws (and in my books admit them) to find the love waiting for them. A character who can't admit they are wrong isn't going to leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy about the future of their relationship when I type The End. And I always want to imagine my hero and heroine living their happily ever after in some utopian fictionland where romance reigns supreme.