People have embarrassing secrets. Some are minor. Like, frex, having a deep love for liver. Or rabidly watching Big Brother or the Bachelor. Some are less minor. Or more humiliating. Picking your nose. Masturbating. Venerial disease.
Now this isn't confession time. Except . . . Okay, I own a cd of the Backstreet Boys, I avidly watch Survivor and I panic around bats. Panic. There, confessions. But really what I was thinking about is how secret embarrassments motivate characters. As writers, we consider flaws and we consider the past and all sorts of habits and joys and fears and so on, but how often do you think about your characters' embarrassing secrets? I never do. Until today because, well, okay, another confession. Ran across an old Cher album on my computer and I'm listening to it right now. I did say I have eclectic taste (some say bad). I own Yanni. And Enigma and Accept and ACDC and Van Halen and Van Hagar and Judas Priest and the list goes on and on.
So anyhow, I was wondering how an embarrassing secret might effect a character's behavior and thinking. And how severely embarrassing? Like if it was a guy, maybe being unable to get it up would be worth seriously hiding. Or having homoerotic interests in a culture where such things are frowned upon. Or bestial. Notice how those all relate to sex? I wonder if most embarrassing secrets are sexual? Or scattalogical for that matter. Have you ever seen an incontinent character? Or one with hellacious smelling gas? But then there's bad body odor, bad foot odor . . .
So for the sake of shits and giggles (especially giggles) what sorts of embarrassing secrets would be fun to give a character? | |