No One Gets Out Without Suffering....

 by Charlotte Bennardo

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-hiding-her-face-in-hands-4584061/

Heartbreak; it's universal. There is no one on this earth that hasn't suffered heartbreak, and most of us have also suffered from a ''bone crushing" loss that leaves us gasping for breath, writhing in agony (unless you're a psychopath or a sociopath).

No one wants to suffer that, yet, such pain and loss forms who we are. For some, it makes them withdraw, become introverted, tucking away that pain. For others, they act out either in aggressive or extroverted manners to hide or deal with the loss. And, for some, it may be that they slowly accept what cannot be changed and move on with their lives. No matter what, heartbreaking loss and bone crushing pain changes us, whether others see it or not.

However we individually deal with loss and grief and pain, we as writers must give that life lesson to our characters. For fiction to be believable, the characters must suffer most of the things that we do in life. My character Adam has suffered loneliness, like me. My character Breena has felt the pain of consequences for a foolish action, like me. My character Wystan has experienced the loss of a parent and home, like me. There are some heartbreaking situations I have not known (which I never want to), such as the loss or chronically ill child, loss of a spouse, nor do I want to know what it's like to go hungry and live on the streets. There are many heartbreaking and bone crushing events that I have so far avoided, but that doesn't mean they won't come my way. That's life, and there's no way to avoid them all.

We suffer, and therefore, our characters must suffer too if they want to be human. 

Charlotte is busy with the debut of her new YA fantasy, The Excalibur Vow, out now. She writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels and short stories in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, horror, paranormal and romance genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy: Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has several short stories in anthologies and online, along with newspaper and magazine articles. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned, and is working on several children's and adult novels and short stories. She lives in NJ but dreams of a Caribbean beach house. And more cats.